A Singaporean woman, Ho Kai Xin, has been sentenced to nine years and 11 months in prison for embezzling over $4 million in cryptocurrency from Bybit and using the funds to finance a luxurious lifestyle.
Ho, 32, was employed by Wechain Fintech, a firm responsible for handling payroll for the crypto exchange. She exploited her position by altering Excel spreadsheets to falsely indicate that USDT payments were owed to digital wallets under her control. Over a three-month period in 2022, she siphoned millions undetected.
Her stolen wealth was spent on high-end luxury goods, including Louis Vuitton handbags, sunglasses, and a Mercedes-Benz. Prosecutors also claimed she placed a $560,000 deposit on a multimillion-dollar penthouse, according to The Straits Times.
The fraud was exposed in September 2022 when a company executive noticed unusually large transactions. The following month, Bybit secured a court order to freeze her assets, but Ho ignored the ruling and continued her extravagant spending.
In January 2025, she received a six-week sentence for contempt of court. Following her guilty plea to multiple charges, she has now been handed a nearly 10-year prison term, which will commence after her current sentence ends.
During the investigation, Ho attempted to mislead authorities by fabricating a story about a non-existent cousin named “Jason Teo” being responsible for the fraudulent transfers. It took police over 140 hours to confirm that this individual did not exist.
Her lawyer, James Gomez, appealed for a lighter sentence of eight years and eight months, arguing that Ho, a mother of two, had shown remorse and recognised the impact of her actions on her family, the victim, and the justice system.
Credit: Decrypt (Text Excluding Headline)
