- In Australia, a user received $653,000 due to a crypto exchange error.
- After the funds were credited, the company's client stopped communicating.
- The court froze the user's assets and banned him from leaving the country.
Australian cryptocurrency exchange OTCPro mistakenly sent $653,000 to a user. After receiving the funds, the client stopped communicating and did not appear in court in the case of misappropriation of assets, ABC News writes, citing court documents.
According to available information, on January 25, 2024, 37-year-old Kow Seng Chai made a deposit of 99,500 Australian dollars (AUD) – $65,300 – on OTCPro. However, due to an unexpected error, AUD 995,000 ($653,000) was credited to the account of his company, Lotte Enterprise Pty Ltd.
The company discovered the problematic operation only on February 4, 2024. During this time, the man withdrew most of the funds received – 956,000 AUD ($626,700). He converted the assets into USDT and withdrew $100,000 daily, using the entire daily limit.
After the error was discovered, representatives from Rhino Trading, OTCPro's parent company, attempted to contact the client. However, the person who answered the call stated that the number did not belong to Sang Chai. The user did not respond to emails.
The company went to court, after which the client’s remaining assets were frozen, and on February 21, 2024, the man was banned from leaving the country. At the same time, local media claim that the user ignored the court hearings and disappeared from sight.
Exchange representatives announced losses of $322,700. The company was able to return part of the funds thanks to frozen funds.
A similar story with an erroneous translation occurred in August 2022. Then the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com accidentally sent the client $10 million instead of $100. The error was discovered only six months later.
Let's remember that we wrote that the failed company Mt. Gox accidentally paid double compensation to customers.