Court told $7.3m of $10.4m cryptocurrency windfall has been recovered or frozen

A man who was mistakenly paid more than $10m in cryptocurrency allegedly went on a spending spree and shifted $2m offshore.

A Craigieburn property bought by Jatinder Singh and Thevamanogari Manivel after the cryptocurrency windfall. Picture: Realestate.com

A man who allegedly splurged millions on luxury houses and a car after he was mistakenly paid more than $10m in cryptocurrency has been granted bail – despite the fact $3m remains missing.

Jatinder Singh, 37, launched his bid for bail in the County Court on Monday after he was committed to stand trial on theft charges in October last year.

The prosecution allege the massive windfall was transferred to his partner and co-accused, Thevamanogari Manivel, after she was supposed to receive a $100 refund from crypto.com in May 2021.

The refund was triggered after Mr Singh used her bank account to buy $100 worth of crypto, but the company noticed the names on the bank account and his crypto account did not match.

Jatinder Singh was bailed on Monday.

However, an employee in Bulgaria incorrectly entered $10.4m into the amount field on her screen.

The court heard once the millions had landed in the Australian bank account as a result of the bungle, Mr Singh told his partner he had won the money through a crypto.com contest.

Then, instead of returning the money, it is alleged he told her to transfer the millions into their joint account before the couple went on a spending spree, buying four properties – including a $1.2m home in Craigieburn – a $70,000 car, furniture and art.

Months later, $4m was also allegedly transferred into an offshore bank account under Ms Manivel’s name, while $1m was also gifted to another man named Mr Singh.

Mr Singh’s partner and co-accused, Thevamanogari Manivel.

Ms Manivel was arrested at Melbourne Airport in March last year after suspicions were aroused about her one-way ticket to Malaysia and Mr Singh was arrested soon after.

The pair will face trial in the County Court over the allegations, with Mr Singh pleading not guilty to theft and dealing with property that is the suspected proceeds of crime.

Senior Constable Conor Healy on Monday told the court $7.3m has since been recovered or frozen.

However, he said of the $4m transferred overseas, only $1.8m has been clawed back by authorities.

In total, $3.1m remains outstanding, with $2.2m believed to still be in Malaysia.

“The concern is he may have access to the outstanding money that has not been recovered yet,” Constable Healy said.

The court heard one of Mr Singh’s friends was willing to accommodate the accused until his trial and pay for his bail surety. 

But prosecutor Peter Botros argued Mr Singh posed an “unacceptable” flight risk, considering he had no job prior to his arrest, no stable residence, no family in Australia and no visa.

“All we know is that a significant amount of money has been moved offshore (but) we don’t know if he has access to it,” he said.

However, Judge Daniel Holding questioned how the accused could flee the country if he imposed bail conditions forcing him to surrender his passport and not apply for a new one.

“If there is a condition that he not have a passport or he not apply for a passport … how does he manage to flee the country?” he said.

Mr Botros said Mr Singh could possibly walk into an Indian embassy and apply for a new passport, adding he was not certain whether authorities would be alerted if he attempted to flee the country with that passport.

But his defence lawyers said the prosecution had no evidence he would flee and was “merely speculating”.

Judge Holding, when granting bail, said the prosecution had failed to convince him the risk of Mr Singh fleeing could not be ameliorated by imposing bail conditions.

Ms Manivel was bailed at the committal hearing last year.

The pair will return to court for a directions hearing on Tuesday.