Woman Sentenced To Nearly 10 Years For $5.7M Fraud Against Bybit In Singapore

A Singapore court docket has sentenced Ho Kai Xin to just about 10 years in jail for defrauding cryptocurrency trade Bybit of $5.7 million by means of payroll manipulation.

The 33-year-old, who pleaded responsible to 44 expenses—together with dishonest and coping with felony proceeds—acquired a nine-year, 11-month sentence, in response to The Straits Times on 20 February 2025.

Ho’s offenses occurred whereas she was employed at WeChain, a crypto networking platform managing payroll providers for Bybit. As head of the payroll group, she exploited her entry to monetary programs between October 2021 and October 2022, along with her fraudulent actions beginning in Could 2022.

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Ho Grew to become Extra Brazen After Her Misconduct Went Undetected

Prosecutors acknowledged that Ho turned extra brazen as her misconduct went undetected, launching into what they described as a “dishonest spree” that drained Bybit’s funds.

Her fraudulent scheme concerned manipulating Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to create false fee data. Ho redirected funds supposed for round 900 Bybit workers to 4 cryptocurrency wallets underneath her management.

In complete, she funneled roughly $4.2 million into these wallets, which she later transformed into fiat foreign money. Authorities revealed that the stolen cash financed a lavish life-style, together with a $750,000 deposit on a $3.7 million penthouse and high-end purchases from luxurious model Louis Vuitton.

Regardless of Bybit recovering over $1.1 million in Tether (USDT) from Ho’s digital wallets and greater than $140,000 from her financial institution accounts, the corporate stays wanting hundreds of thousands.

JUST IN: A Singaporean girl has been sentenced to just about 10 years in jail for defrauding @Bybit_Official of over $4 million in crypto.

Ho Kai Xin, 32 years outdated, exploited her function at Wechain Fintech, which processed payroll for Bybit, by manipulating Excel spreadsheets to… pic.twitter.com/1fBRpPEMyY

— The Crypto Idiot (@the_cryptofool) February 20, 2025

Police additionally seized property price greater than $330,000, together with a Mercedes-Benz. Ho has not proposed any restitution plan for the remaining funds.

Ho’s authorized troubles worsened when she acquired a six-week contempt of court docket sentence in January 2024 for spending her ill-gotten positive factors regardless of a court docket order prohibiting her from doing so. Her practically 10-year sentence will start after finishing her present sentence.

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Ho Tries To Milead Authorities

Throughout the investigation, Ho initially misled authorities by blaming a fictitious cousin named “Jason Teo” for the transactions, a declare later disproven by police.

Her lawyer, James Gomez, sought leniency, highlighting that Ho is a mom of two younger kids. She has expressed regret for her actions. He requested an eight-year, eight-month sentence, arguing her crimes stemmed from a momentary lapse in judgment.

Ho was arrested in April 2023, two months after WeChain reported her misconduct to the police.

Final 12 months, cybersecurity agency Cado Safety Labs warned that Web3 professionals have grow to be the most recent victims of a complicated malware marketing campaign. It employs faux assembly apps to steal delicate credentials and crypto property.

In a report, Cado’s risk analysis lead, Tara Gould, detailed that scammers are leveraging synthetic intelligence (AI) to craft convincing web sites and social media profiles that mimic legit firms.

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