Crypto.com unit Foris GFS transferred $10.7m to Melbourne woman Thevamanogari Manivel ‘by mistake’, court hears

A crypto.com business is fighting to recoup $10.7m in funds which were accidentally transferred to a woman in Melbourne, a court has heard.

Kris Marszalek is the co-founder and CEO of CRYPTO.com. Picture: Seb Daly

A crypto.com unit is fighting to recoup $10.7m in funds which were accidentally transferred to a woman in Melbourne, a court has heard.

Crypto.com business Foris GFS has sued Melbourne woman Thevamanogari Manivel seeking to recoup the alleged accidental transfer but she argued the company had to prove the $10.7m was paid to her “by mistake”.

In a court hearing in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday, Foris GFS’ barrister Mark McKillop said the crypto company wanted to extend an existing freezing order over Ms Manivel’s assets to include her offshore holdings.

Mr McKillop said Ms Manivel had only disclosed she owned over $1m in Australian assets to the court which left $9m “not accounted for” after the alleged mistaken transfer.

“[Foris GFS] has great concern given the $9.3m gap between the Australian assets and the payment amount, he said.

Ms Manivel, who owns a logistics business in Malaysia, had not disclosed her offshore assets yet, said Mr McKillop.

“We suggest that gap is accounted for by the value of assets in Malaysia … presumably she owns the assets to operate the business,” the barrister said.

Ms Manivel’s barrister, William Lye QC, said his client was not disputing that she received the $10.7m into her bank account but argued it was on Foris GFS to show the funds were transferred by “mistake”.

While Foris GFS claimed the $10.7m was held on trust by a third company called Sensipay which accidentally transferred the funds to Ms Manivel, there was no “direct evidence” the money belonged to the crypto.com unit, said Mr Lye.

Mr Lye said Foris GFS’ only evidence that the funds were held on trust for the company was an excel spreadsheet.

He also questioned Foris GFS’ delay in finding the alleged mistake, saying three financial quarters had passed before the company found there was a “big black hole in the balance sheet”.

Foris GFS discovered the alleged mistake last December, which was seven months after the transfer happened on May 13, said Mr Lye.

Mr Lye also argued Foris GFS had to give more information concerning who owned the funds and how the alleged mistake was made.

Justice James Elliot said Foris GFS still had to answer “pretty basic questions” about the ownership of the funds and the people involved in the alleged mistaken transfer.

The judge ordered Ms Manivel to disclose her assets in Malaysia by Friday.

Crypto.com is the authorised representative of Foris GFS. It operates a cryptocurrency platform which has more than 10 million users worldwide and trades more than 250 cryptocurrencies.

Crypto.com did not respond to The Australian’s request for comment. 

Originally published as Crypto.com unit Foris GFS transferred $10.7m to Melbourne woman Thevamanogari Manivel ‘by mistake’, court hears