Man splashes £420,000 accidentally transferred into his bank account on gold bars, make-up and designer clothes | The Sun
A MAN went on a spending spree after £420,000 was accidentally deposited into his bank account.
Abdel Ghadia, 24, has now been jailed after he splashed out on gold bars, make-up and designer clothes.
The money that landed in his account was accidentally transferred by a couple wanting to buy a house.
He told police in Australia he “just woke up and saw the money” and “wanted to give gold to someone I loved”, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reports.
At the time he was taking home £2600 a month working in a warehouse.
Tara Thorne and Corey Brooks lost their life savings after hackers posing as their broker used fake emails to get them to send their deposit to Ghadia's account.
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A couple were in the final steps of buying their dream home on the city's northern beaches when they were told to transfer £420,000.
Ghadia did not have a hand in the initial scam and is the only person charged in relation to the incident.
Passing sentence Magistrate Richard Funston said Ghadia “couldn’t wash his hands and be done with it”.
Thought he wasn’t involved in the initial scam he “enthusiastically” spent the couple’s money.
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“He might not have been the mastermind but he knew what he was doing,” he said.
“There was a concerted effort to dispose of the funds, which will be night on impossible to ever recover.”
In a statement to the court, the victims said the scam has “devastated us and our family”.
They have been left in a mountain of debt and no savings while relatives, who had helped loan money for the house, were also out of pocket.
ABDEL GHADIA’S SPENDING SPREE
ABC Bullion, Sydney – 14 bars worth around £330,000 bought in six visits
Ainslie Bullion, Brisbane – £34,700 on a 500g gold bullion and 10oz bar plus £26,600 on coins
International money market – £8000 in foreign exchange.
Cash machines across Sydney – £7500 withdrawn.
Westfield shopping centre – £3445 on clothes from Uniqlo and JD Sports, and makeup from MECCA.
“The ordeal feels unbearable at times, and I have significant feelings of despair and stress,” Mr Brooks said.
“It’s left us with wounds – I could work well into my 90s and never reclaim the money we lost.”
Ghadia, who pleaded guilty, was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for two counts of dealing with the property proceeds of crime.
Under UK law, you're not allowed to spend any of the cash if you have an unexpected windfall.
In fact, if money is transferred into your account unexpectedly and you use it, you could be charged with ‘retaining wrongful credit' under the Theft Act 1968.
You could even get in trouble for just leaving it there if you know it shouldn't be in your account.
Instead, you're expected to take steps reasonable steps to cancel the transfer or return it.
It comes as a woman who bought a luxury mansion after she was accidentally paid £6million has told a court she believed her partner had won it.
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Thevamanogari Manivel, 40, thought it was her lucky day when a cryptocurrency trader mistakenly transferred the windfall instead of a £60 refund.
She was expecting the small rebate from digital currency exchange Crypto.com, but received the seven-figure sum after a staff blunder.
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