Crypto Payroll Scammer Sentenced to Nearly 10 Years

A woman, identified as Ho Kai Xin, has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison by a Singapore court for defrauding the crypto exchange Bybit of $5.7 million. The sentence, handed down on Feb. 20, comes after Ho pleaded guilty to 44 charges, including five cheating charges and eight counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct.

Ho, who worked at the crypto networking platform WeChain, handled payroll for Bybit and led the payroll team. She falsely amended payrolls, sending a total of $4.2 million to four crypto wallets she owned. The funds were then converted into fiat currencies to fund her lavish lifestyle, including a penthouse deposit of nearly $750,000.

Ho's actions went undetected initially, but nine months later, in February 2023, a WeChain representative informed the local police about her misconduct. Ho was arrested two months later. During the investigation, Ho provided false information to a public servant, claiming that her cousin, "Jason Teo," was responsible for the unlawful transactions. Investigators later discovered that Teo does not exist.

Ho's lawyer, James Gomez, argued for an eight-year and eight-month sentence, citing her two young children and her lapse in judgment. However, the court sentenced her to nine years and 11 months, which will commence after she completes her current sentence, which started on Jan. 27.

Ho managed to launder over $4.3 million of the $5.7 million she stole, but Bybit was able to recover more than $1.1 million worth of stablecoin Tether (USDT) from her electronic wallets and over $140,000 from one of her bank accounts. Police also seized more than $330,000 worth of items from Ho, including a Mercedes-Benz car. Ho has not made any offers to repay the remaining amount to Bybit.