Nikolas Sargeant
An Australian crypto exchange, Rhino Trading, the owner of OTCPro, is grappling with the aftermath of a significant error when crediting a user's account. According to court documents referenced by ABC News, the exchange mistakenly transferred $653,000 (995,000 Australian dollars) to Kow Seng Chai's account in January, instead of the intended $65,300 (99,500 Australian dollars). Rhino Trading claims that since realizing the mistake on February 4, attempts to reach Chai for the return of the funds have been futile.
Allegedly, Chai used a portion of the mistakenly credited funds to acquire Tether. In a puzzling turn of events, the person who answered a phone call to the number linked to Chai's account denied being Chai. Furthermore, Chai failed to show up in court, prompting the Supreme Court of the state of Victoria to freeze his assets on February 9.
An injunction on February 21 further restricted Chai from leaving the country, citing a "real risk of assets being disposed of." Justice Michael Osborne expressed concern about the authenticity of bank statements and issued the orders to freeze Chai's assets, preventing him from leaving Australia.
Meanwhile, OTCPro reports a loss of nearly $322,700, calculated as Chai's remaining account balance minus the mistakenly sent funds. Interestingly, this incident parallels a similar error made by Crypto.com over two and a half years ago.
In May 2021, Crypto.com mistakenly sent $6.86 million (10.47 million AUD) to a Melbourne couple, Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh, instead of a $100 refund. The couple, believing it to be prize money, allegedly went on a spending spree, resulting in legal consequences for Manivel. Singh is scheduled to face a hearing in a Melbourne court in March.
