Inside $10.4M Crypto blunder: Bulgarian worker mistakenly transferred windfall to Aussie couple

By William On Oct 12, 2022

A glamorous Crypto.com employee from Bulgaria has been revealed as the person who accidentally transferred $10.4 million to an Australian couple, who are accused of using the money to spend millions.

Ivona Vasileva Tsanova was working at the company’s Bulgarian office when she committed the mega-million blunder.

Melbourne couple Jatinder Singh, 37, and Thevamanogari Manivel, 40, are accused of taking the money and wasting property, gifts and luxury items.

Bulgarian Ivona Vasileva Tsanova accidentally transferred more than $10 million to an Australian bank account

Melbourne couple Jatinder Singh, 37, and Thevamanogari Manivel, 40, are accused of taking the money and wasting property, gifts and luxury items.

Both pleaded not guilty to handling the proceeds of crime in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

In court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Crypto.com CEO and CEO Kalash Mohan named Ms Tsanova as the operator who made the mistake on May 11 last year.

On Tuesday, the court heard that Manivel’s friend Singh, a cryptocurrency trader, had used her account information to continue trading through Crypto.com.

But when Manivel’s bank account did not match Singh’s, the company decided to refund the $100 deposited.

Mr Mohan told the court that Ms Tsanova made the mistake of accidentally copying and pasting an account number into the wire transfer section of what was supposed to be a $100 refund to Manivel’s Commonwealth Bank account.

Her mistake would not be discovered until Christmas when a company audit revealed the drastic flaw.

Mr. Mohan said that Ms. Tsanova, who lists herself on LinkedIn as Crypto.com’s ‘Head of Payments’, remains employed by the company and her details have been turned over to Victoria Police.

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest that Ms Tsanova committed a crime, only that she is mentioned in court documents as the person who carried out the transfer.

Mr Mohan told the court that he felt sorry for Ms Tsanova.

“I have hidden this incident from our employees so as not to cause them stress,” he told police.

“Besides, the operator must feel very guilty about her mistake.”

Ivona Vasileva Tsanova was going to transfer $100 to Manivel’s account, but accidentally transferred $10.4 million

Ivona Vasileva Tsanova is still employed by Crypto.com in Bulgaria

HOW CRYPTO LOADED OUT OF FEW MILLIONS?

Detective Senior Constable Conor Healy said Manivel transferred $4 million to an HSBC bank account in Malaysia, of which $2 million was later returned, but the other $2 million was quickly transferred to undisclosed accounts, the detective said.

The court heard that four houses had been purchased with the ill-gotten money – all of which had been frozen by the Supreme Court as part of the pending civil suit initiated there by Crypto.com.

Senior Constable Healy claimed that $8 million was transferred from Manivel’s account between December 24 last year and February.

Of that, $1.2 million was used to buy a luxury home in Craigieburn and a $56,000 down payment went to a home in Mickleham.

Police allege Manivel gave her daughters gifts: $500,000 to one, $430,000 to another, and $200,000 to a third daughter.

Another $70,000 was used to buy a car for her daughter in Melbourne and $1.2 million donated to one of Singh’s friends to pay off his mortgage on a Mickleham property.

The rest would have been blown on furniture, art and other luxury items.

New details may also be revealed about the couple’s alleged plans to steal the ill-gotten money.

Mr Mohan told the court that Manivel transferred $80,000 to another bank account on May 13 and withdrew $10 million from a CBA branch in Casey Central, Narre Warren, which is believed to have come in via check.

An accountant in Hong Kong discovered the error on December 23, but by then Manivel’s account had dwindled to just $18,504.

Crypto.com launched a civil suit against Manivel in February, but when a CBA employee served Manivel at her home in Epping, neighbors told him she was long gone.

Mr Mohan said Manivel answered her phone to Crypto.com lawyers on Feb. 8, where she reportedly refused to return the funds.

“She would have no reason to believe that the money was transferred to her on purpose, as she was not a customer of ours,” he told the court.

Manivel’s assets were frozen worldwide by order of the Supreme Court of Victoria, but by then the couple had unloaded more than $8 million.

The Malaysian national, who was in Australia on a student visa and worked in the disability sector, had been picked up at Melbourne Airport.

Singh and Manivel each face up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty of stealing the money from the Commonwealth Bank where Crypto.com transferred the money.

The court heard that $2 million in cash is still missing, plus another $1 million in assets.

Police Claim The Couple Spent $1.2 Million Of The Crypto ‘Refund’ To Buy This Luxury Home In Craigieburn

The house has gone to the weeds since the freeze orders came into play

Both are now likely to face a trial in the County Court of Victoria.

The court heard that Singh had been a regular cryptocurrency trader and had used his partner’s debit card to collect $49,000 in his Crypto.com wallet.

Police allege Manivel’s money was transferred from Manivel’s account to a joint account with Singh within a day of being discovered by the couple.

Singh later told police that he believed he had “won” the money in a “Crypto.com contest.”

The court heard Manivel alleged that she had been defrauded by Singh into believing that the money was hers to deal with as she wished.

But Crypto.com told the court it would never hold a contest involving bona fide Australian dollars.

Although the company had two promotions that year, Singh was not a winner and the amounts won were “not in the amount Singh claims,” the company said.

The court heard that Singh’s transactions were financed only through Manivel’s debit card.

“The first and only attempt to deposit fiat money into Singh’s Crypto.com account failed because the bank account where the fiat money came from belonged to Manivel,” the court heard.

Ivona Vasileva Tsanova Lists Herself as ‘Head of Payments’ at Crypto.com

Ivona Vasileva Tsanova Was Named As The Crypto.com Employee Who Made The Wrong Transfer

When Singh failed to respond to requests from Crypto.com to verify that it was his account, the money was returned – albeit in the wrong amount.

Court documents show that Singh was an Indian citizen who was not even allowed to live in Australia.

While Manivel legally worked as an assistant nurse, he spent his days trading lesser-known cryptocurrencies.

Upon learning of the bank’s mistake, the police claimed that Singh immediately notified Manivel, who transferred the money to their joint Westpac account.

In August, the couple bought two properties in Sunbury and donated $1 million to a relative of Singh.

After being approached by a CBA employee in December, police alleged that Manivel immediately transferred $2 million into an account in Hong Kong.

Another $8 million was moved from the Westpac account over the next few weeks as Crypto.com scrambled to obtain freeze orders.

As police approached, Manivel attempted to fly from Melbourne to her homeland in Malaysia on March 17.

She claimed she was going home to see her children there, but detectives claim she bought a one-way ticket and had no intention of ever returning.

Manivel was carrying three briefcases and hiding $11,000 in cash.

Although Singh did not apply for bail on Tuesday, Manivel was allowed to move in with her daughter, despite police fears that she could disappear.

Her brother – a mechanic – handed over a $10,000 bond to secure her freedom.