OTCPro vs. Kow Seng Chai: A Tale of Mistaken Millions

A Mildura Man’s Disappearance After a Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Error

A man from Mildura, Australia, named Sam Oliver, has vanished after allegedly pocketing around half a million dollars when a cryptocurrency trading platform mistakenly added an extra zero to his account.

The cryptocurrency trading platform, Rhino Trading Pty Ltd, which operates the website OTCPro, has filed a lawsuit in the Victorian Supreme Court seeking to freeze Sam Oliver’s assets and prevent him from leaving the country.

The incident occurred when Sam Oliver, through his business Lotte Enterprise Pty Ltd, deposited $99,500 into his crypto trading account on January 25, 2024. However, due to a clerical error, OTCPro mistakenly credited his account with $995,000 instead of the actual amount.

Unauthorized Withdrawal of Funds from OTCPro

The company only discovered the error on February 4. By that time, Sam Oliver had already used some of the erroneously credited funds to purchase Tether, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, and withdrew funds in multiple daily installments of US$100,000.

On the date of the error, Sam Oliver’s Lotte Enterprise account had a balance of $1.36 million, comprising his initial deposit of $464,263 and the additional $895,500 erroneously credited by OTCPro.

Bank records show that Sam Oliver subsequently withdrew approximately $956,000 over the next 10 days. OTCPro claims to have incurred a total loss of $491,934.76 after deducting the remaining account balance from the mistakenly credited amount.

Attempts to Contact Sam Oliver and Legal Action

OTCPro contacted Sam Oliver via phone and email to request the return of the mistakenly credited funds, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

In response, the Victorian Supreme Court issued a freezing order on Sam Oliver’s assets on February 9 and an injunction on February 21 preventing him from leaving Australia.

Justice Michael Osborne granted the orders, citing the “real risk of assets being disposed of.” The court also found that Sam Oliver had provided fraudulent bank statements as evidence of Lotte Enterprise’s business activities.

Insights into Cryptocurrency Trading

The case has garnered attention for its unique insights into cryptocurrency trading. Melbourne University Lecturer in Cyber Security Computing and Information Systems, Ethan Brookes, noted that it is rare for such cases to reach a courtroom.

Brookes stated, “Normally the person who receives the cryptocurrency funds disappears into the ether, and that’s the end of the story. In this instance, because it was sent to someone in the same country, OTCPro was able to file a court case.”

Brookes also raised questions about the whereabouts of Sam Oliver’s other assets, if any, within Australia. He posed the questions, “Has [the money] been converted back to regular currency? And if so, where are those dollars? Are they in an Australian bank account? Are they overseas?”