Family given $10.4million instead of $100 refund go on a massive spending spree and buy their dream home – but now they have to pay it ALL back
- Crypto.com, which uses Matt Damon in ads, mistakenly transferred $10.4million
- The error was not discovered until an audit was carried out seven months later
- The woman who got the mistaken transfer spent $1.35million on a luxury house
A high-profile cryptocurrency trader that uses film star Matt Damon in its advertising mistakenly transferred almost $10.5million to a Melbourne woman.
Crypto.com launched legal action against Thevamanogari Manivel and her sister Thilagavathy Gangadory after taking seven months to realise its mistake.
The error happened when the company attempted to give Ms Manivel a $100 refund in May 2021, but entered an account number in the payment section of the transfer.
The $10,474,143 mistake was discovered in a company audit just before last Christmas.
Crypto.com mistakenly transferred almost $10.5million to a Melbourne woman
When Crypto.com tried to get its money back, $1.35million had already been spent on a luxury five-bedroom house and the rest had been moved to other accounts.
The house in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn, which has four bathrooms, a home gym and cinema, was bought on February 3, the Herald Sun reported.
On February 7, Crypto.com made freezing orders against Ms Manivel’s bank account, but court documents show $10.1m had already been moved to a different joint account and $430,000 had been transferred to her daughter, Raveena Vijian.
The house registration was then transferred to the Malaysia-based Ms Gangadory before Crypto.com was able to take out freezing orders against her in March.
The company subsequently took legal action in the Supreme Court against Ms Gangadory seeking to get back the cost of the house plus 10 per cent interest.
The court heard that she was ‘seeking legal advice’ and her lawyers ‘would be in contact’, but neither she nor they appeared.
Judge James Dudley Elliott ordered Ms Gangadory pay Crypto.com $1.35million, interest of $27,369 and costs, and that the Craigieburn house be sold.
‘It is established that the Craigieburn Property was acquired with funds traceable to the wrongful Payment and would never have been in Gangadory’s hands if the wrongful payment had not been made,” Mr Elliott said as he handed down his judgment.
‘Thus, Gangadory was unjustly enriched by receiving the purchase price of the Craigieburn property out of the wrongful payment …
‘Accordingly, I was satisfied that the orders relating to the sale of the Craigieburn property were appropriate.’
Thevamanogari Manivel reportedly bought a luxury house (pictured) in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn after mistakenly receiving a bank transfer of $10,474,143
The Victorian Supreme Court’s commercial division heard the case in May, with reasons for Justice Elliott’s judgment being made available last week.
Because Ms Gangadory was not represented in court, Justice Elliott wrote that ‘references to the facts of this case based on such uncontested evidence are necessarily open to challenge if Gangadory ever seeks to set aside the default judgment’.
The judge added that she ‘has not responded to any of the correspondence from (Crypto.com’s) solicitors’ and that ‘the effect of not filing an appearance is that the allegations in the statement of claim are taken to be admitted’.
Seperate orders have reportedly been made regarding the rest of the money mistakenly transferred to Ms Manivel.
Crypto.com’s lawyers, Cornwalls Law, told Daily Mail Australia that as the matter is before the courts, it was unable to comment.
Ms Manivel and Ms Gangadory could not be contacted.
Thilagavathy Gangadory, who did not show up in court, has been ordered to sell the house (pictured) in Craigieburn, Victoria
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