A story of meticulous fraud has reached its judicial conclusion in Singapore. The courts have just sentenced a former manager of the Bybit exchange platform to almost 10 years in prison for embezzling $5.7 million after manipulating payroll Excel files to redirect payments to four crypto wallets.
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Bybit employee sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing millions
Ho Kai Xin, who managed payroll operations via the crypto network platform WeChain, received a sentence of nine years and eleven months after pleading guilty to 44 charges, including fraud and criminal conduct. Her sentence begins after she completes her current six-week jail term for contempt of court.
Ho exploited her position as team leader of payroll operations at WeChain, which managed compensation for around 900 Bybit employees. Between May 2022 and October 2022, she systematically manipulated the payroll Excel files to redirect payments to four crypto wallets under her control, succeeding in transferring $4.2 million using this method.
The fraud remained undetected for several months, encouraging Ho to step up her activities. According to prosecutors, she became increasingly confident as her first fraudulent transactions went unnoticed, leading to a series of larger deceptions aimed at systematically emptying funds from Bybit.
The fall of a fraudster with luxurious tastes
Embezzled funds fueled an extravagant lifestyle, Ho converting cryptocurrencies into fiat currency for her personal use. Her largest purchase was a $750,000 down payment on a luxury penthouse valued at over $3.7 million. She also indulged in shopping sprees at Louis Vuitton, acquiring luxury bags, rings, shirts and shoes.
Bybit has succeeded in recovering approximately 1.1 million USDT from the digital portfolios of Ho and a further $140,000 from her bank accounts. Authorities seized assets worth over $330,000, including a Mercedes-Benz. However, Ho did not offer to repay the remaining balance to Bybit.
The case was discovered in February 2023 when a representative of WeChain alerted local police to Ho’s misconduct, leading to her arrest two months later. During the investigation, Ho tried to deceive the authorities by inventing a fictitious cousin, “Jason Teo”, whom she falsely accused of being responsible for the illegal transactions.
Despite a plea from her lawyer, James Gomez, for a reduced sentence of eight years and eight months, citing her status as a mother of two young children, the court maintained a firm stance on the seriousness of the crime.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
