According to testimony given in court, the lady who reportedly purchased her dream house using a $10.4 million cryptocurrency transfer error thought her boyfriend had won.
When processing the bank transfer to reimburse Thevamanogari Manivel $100 in May 2021, Crypto.com accidentally inserted an account number in the field intended for the dollar amount.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard Manivel’s accusation that her co-accused tricked her on Tuesday.
Jessica Willard, Manivel’s attorney, said before the court that her client was unaware that the money may have been stolen.
She said that whether Ms. Manivel was aware that the money was stolen or not, the dishonesty component is at the heart of the entire problem.
The court was informed that Manivel claimed police her co-accused had “earned the money” when she was arrested.
That’s what he says in his interview record as well, Ms. Manivel said.
Seven months after the transfer, and just before last Christmas, a business audit uncovered the $10,474,143 error.
The Commonwealth Bank, however, asserts that the couple was aware that the money had been transmitted in error.
When the case comes to court the following month, Ms. Willard will question a CBA official about how its investigation was conducted.
They claim that a contact was made along the route to inform her of the payments. She said that CBA was Ms. Manivel’s most important witness.
The bank maintained a record of its communications with the accused, according to prosecutor Vanessa Kambouropoulos, who testified before the court.
Manivel appeared in court via video connection from the Dame Phyllis Frost Center while wearing a blue prison uniform.
In an attempt to recover its funds, Crypto.com has also filed a lawsuit against Manivel and her sister Thilagavathy Gangadory.
The luxurious home had already cost $1.35 million when Crypto.com alleges it attempted to get its money back, and the remaining funds had been transferred to other accounts.
When Daily Mail Australia visited the “Crypto mansion” earlier this month, it was covered in tall, unsightly weeds and had other clear signs of neglect.
May of last year saw a sharp decrease in the price of cryptocurrencies at the time the mistake occurred.
The Herald Sun stated at the time that the Craigieburn house, which features four bathrooms, a home gym, and a theater, was purchased on February 3.
Four days later, Crypto.com issued orders to freeze Manivel’s bank account; but, according to court records, $10.1 million had already been transferred to another joint account, and $430,000 had been sent to her daughter, Raveena Vijian.
Before Crypto.com could issue a freezing order against Ms Gangadory in March, the home registration was later moved to the Malaysian resident.
After that, the corporation filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court to recover the cost of the home plus 10% interest.
Since neither Ms. Gangadory nor her attorneys showed up in court or filed a defense, the case was won by default.
In addition to ruling that the Craigieburn home be auctioned, Justice James Dudley Elliott ordered Ms. Gangadory to pay Crypto.com $1.35 million, $27,369 in interest, and charges.
As he delivered his ruling, Mr. Elliott said, “It is shown that the Craigieburn property was obtained using monies traceable to the fraudulent payment and would never have been in Gangadory’s hands if the wrongful payment had not been made.”
So, by obtaining the Craigieburn property’s purchase price from the erroneous payment, Gangadory was unfairly benefited.
The orders pertaining to the sale of the Craigieburn property were, in my opinion, appropriate.
The matter was heard by the commercial division of the Victorian Supreme Court in May, but Justice Elliott’s decision wasn’t made public until last month.
Justice Elliott said that since Ms. Gangadory was not represented in court, “references to the facts of this case based on such uncontested evidence are unavoidably susceptible to attack if Gangadory ever moves to set aside the default decision.”
In addition, the court said that she “has not answered to any of the letters from (Crypto.com’s) lawyers” and that “the impact of not filing an appearance is that the accusations in the statement of claim are presumed to be acknowledged” due to her lack of attendance.
According to reports, separate orders have been issued in relation to the remaining funds sent to Ms. Manivel.
The legal counsel for Crypto.com, Cornwalls Law, said Daily Mail Australia that it was unable to comment since the case was pending in court.