A man in Australia has reportedly disappeared after a crypto exchange accidentally sent more than $585,000 to his account.
According to a new Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reportcryptocurrency trading platform Rhino Trading Pty Ltd, which operates OTCPro, is alleged to have made a mistake and added a zero to an account deposit made by 37-year-old Mildura man Kow Seng Chai.
The platform’s attempts to contact Chai to get the money back were unsuccessful and the company turned to the courts.
Court documents cited by ABC show that the crypto exchange successfully asked the Victorian High Court to freeze Chai’s assets and ban his departure from Australia.
On January 25, OTCPro received a deposit of $99,500 AUD from Chai through an account set up by his company Lotte Enterprise Pty Ltd, according to the report.
However, when the trading platform credited this account, it added $995,000 AUD, not $99,500 AUD, incorrectly giving the customer approximately $585,000 USD.
The platform did not notice the discrepancy until February 4, but by then Chai is said to have used account funds to purchase USDT, the stablecoin issued by Tether, and also to have withdrawn the maximum daily amount of funds allowed for several days.
According to the court documents cited, Chai’s account totaled $1.36 million AUD after the incorrect credit, and in the space of 10 days he is said to have withdrawn approximately $956,000 AUD.
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