A former payroll manager who stole $5.7 million from the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison. The court found Ho Kai Xin guilty of 44 charges, including crypto fraud, money laundering, and providing false information to authorities.
Singapore court convicts woman for falsifying payroll records and laundering stolen funds. Source: XPayroll Manager Altered Records to Funnel Millions into Her Own Crypto Wallets
Ho worked at WeChain, a payroll management company that handled salaries for Bybit employees. She was in charge of processing payroll for around 900 employees.
Between May 2022 and October 2022, Ho manipulated payroll records. She altered Microsoft Excel files to falsely show that Bybit owed payments to four cryptocurrency wallets—wallets that she controlled.
Through this method, she transferred $4.2 million in stolen funds to her accounts. She later converted the crypto into fiat currency and spent the money on luxury goods and real estate.
Lavish Spending on Luxury and Real Estate
Court documents revealed that Ex-Bybit manager used the stolen money to fund an extravagant lifestyle. She placed a deposit of nearly $750,000 for a penthouse valued at over $3.7 million.
She also spent large sums on luxury brand Louis Vuitton, buying bags, rings, shirts, and shoes. Authorities later seized a Mercedes-Benz and other assets worth over $330,000.
WeChain discovered financial discrepancies in February 2023 and reported Ho’s misconduct to the police. Two months later, she was arrested.
During the investigation, Ho attempted to mislead authorities. She told police that her cousin, “Jason Teo,” was responsible for the fraudulent transactions. However, investigators later confirmed that “Teo” did not exist.
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On Feb. 20, the Singapore court sentenced Ho to nine years and 11 months in prison. Her sentence will begin after she completes a separate six-week jail term for contempt of court. She had continued spending the stolen money despite a court order to stop.
Bybit has recovered some of the stolen funds. Authorities seized over $1.1 million worth of Tether (USDT) from Ho’s crypto wallets and more than $140,000 from her bank account. However, she has not made any attempts to repay the remaining stolen funds.
Prosecutors argued that Ho continued stealing after realizing she had not been caught, making her fraud more severe.
When her actions went undetected, the accused became emboldened, going on a cheating spree to drain Bybit’s funds.
prosecutors told the court.
Her lawyer, James Gomez, requested a lighter sentence of eight years and eight months. He argued that she has two young children and has reflected on her mistakes. However, the court ruled against reducing her sentence.
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