Woman Jailed for Stealing $5.7M from Bybit

She pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including five cheating charges, eight counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct, and one count of providing false information to government authorities. The Singapore court also reviewed an additional thirty charges before delivering the final verdict.

According to the investigation, Ho Kai Xin was responsible for processing the payroll of around 900 Bybit employees through Wechain’s financial system. Her first fraudulent transaction, amounting to $117,000, took place in May 2022. When her actions went undetected, she grew more confident and began systematically transferring funds to her own crypto wallets.

When her actions went undetected, the accused became emboldened, going on a cheating spree to drain her client company, ByBit, of its monies. Month after month, she (made off with) massive amounts of cryptocurrency from ByBit’s electronic wallet into four of her own,

prosecutors stated.

Over several months, she stole approximately $5.7 million by altering employee details and other information in payroll spreadsheets. She then converted the stolen USDT stablecoins into fiat currency and laundered the money through various schemes. Her fraud remained undetected for nine months before Wechain identified the discrepancies and reported her to the police.

Related: Bybit: A Full Review of Its Features and Benefits

During her arrest, Ho Kai Xin attempted to blame the crimes on a fictional cousin. However, a search of her newly purchased multi-million-dollar home revealed luxury items worth $330,000, including a Mercedes-Benz. Authorities also froze her bank accounts and seized crypto wallets found on her electronic devices.

She was also sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court after violating a financial ban by spending illegally obtained funds on luxury goods, including designer bags, shoes, and sunglasses, totaling around $840,000. Thus, her new prison sentence will begin after she completes the previous one.

To date, Bybit has recovered $1.1 million in cryptocurrency and an additional $140,000 from the scammer’s bank accounts. Ho Kai Xin showed no intention of voluntarily returning the stolen assets to seek a reduced sentence. It is likely that Bybit covered the employees' losses from its own funds. Despite this incident, Bybit remains one of the leading crypto trading platforms.