TLDR:
- A mix-up between an account number and the refund amount triggered an erroneous $10.5 million transfer.
- The beneficiaries used the funds to purchase a mansion and finance a luxury lifestyle for seven months.
- The court ordered the full return of the capital and the liquidation of assets acquired after an internal audit.
An operational failure has escalated into a historic legal case. The Crypto.com error occurred during refund processing, turning two women into millionaires overnight.
What is usually a routine refund procedure became a legal nightmare for two sisters following an unusual administrative blunder. A technical oversight caused the exchange to process a multimillion-dollar deposit instead of the requested $100, as an employee entered the account number into the field intended for the transaction amount.
Despite the magnitude of the figure, the sisters chose not to report the incident and began dispersing the capital on extravagant expenses. However, the exchange did not detect the anomaly immediately, allowing the sisters to enjoy the fortune for more than half a year before an accounting review brought the discrepancy to light.
Legal consequences and asset recovery
Once the failure was noticed, the platform initiated legal action to freeze accounts and recover every cent of the erroneous deposit. Consequently, a court ruled that the money was sent by mistake and that the recipients had a legal obligation to return it in full, regardless of the company’s initial lack of controls.
As a result of the ruling, the “millionaire” users were forced to sell the luxury mansion purchased with the funds and reinstate the remaining balance. Ultimately, this case highlights the importance of transparency in the crypto sector and serves as a reminder that technological errors do not grant ownership rights over others’ capital.
