Singaporean Woman Slapped with 10 Years Jail Time for Defrauding Bybit of $4.2 Million
Bybit Scammer Gets 10 Years Jail Sentence
Ho Kai Xin, a 32-year-old from Singapore, has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for defrauding the crypto exchange Bybit out of $4.2 million (S$5.7 million) in cryptocurrency.
While working for Wechain Fintech, which processed payroll for Bybit, Ho manipulated Excel spreadsheets to falsely show USDT payments due to digital wallets under her control.
🚨 JUST IN: A Singaporean woman has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in jail for defrauding @Bybit_Official of over $4 million in crypto. Ho Kai Xin, 32 years old, exploited her role at Wechain Fintech, which processed payroll for Bybit, by manipulating Excel spreadsheets to… pic.twitter.com/1fBRpPEMyY
— The Crypto Fool (@the_cryptofool) February 20, 2025
Over three months in 2022, millions were illicitly transferred, which she spent on luxury goods, including Louis Vuitton handbags, sunglasses, and a Mercedes-Benz.
She also placed a $560,000 deposit on a multimillion-dollar penthouse.
Prosecutors revealed that Ho became bolder after her initial embezzlement went unnoticed, even linking her crypto addresses to other employees’ names.
Her fraudulent activities were uncovered in September 2022 when an executive noticed discrepancies in the payroll spreadsheet.
Despite a court order to freeze her assets, Ho continued to lavishly spend the stolen funds, further compounding her crimes.
Ho Awaiting Commencement of New Sentence When Current One Expires
In January, Ho was sentenced to six weeks in jail for contempt of court after violating a civil court order prohibiting her from using funds she had embezzled.
Despite the court's directive issued in October 2022, Ho spent nearly $840,000 between November and December of that year on a freehold penthouse and luxury Louis Vuitton items.
The contempt charge stemmed from Bybit Fintech’s civil lawsuit to recover the stolen cryptocurrency.
Ex-Bybit Payroll Employee Sentenced for $5.7M Crypto Theft A former employee of Wechain Fintech, Bybit’s payroll provider, has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for embezzling $5.7 million, mostly in USDT. Between May and August 2022, she falsified payroll records,… pic.twitter.com/FbujPy9Yfl
— Cryptol (@newscryptol) February 20, 2025
On 27 January, Ho was handed the short sentence, but this is just one part of her legal troubles.
She now faces an additional nine years and 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to over a dozen charges.
This sentence will begin after her current term expires.
Upon her arrest, Ho falsely claimed a fictitious cousin, "Jason Teo," was responsible for the illegal transfers, a story that took police over 140 hours to debunk.
Her defense attorney, James Gomez, requested a lighter sentence of eight years and eight months, citing her role as the mother of two young children.
He said during the trial:
"Her actions were a lapse in judgment, and she has since reflected deeply on the consequences they have had on her family, the victim and the justice system."
⚡️ Arbitrum DAO committee proposal to invest 7,500 ETH in non-native projects sparks criticism
Arbitrum's plan to reinvest some of its Ethereum holdings in yield-bearing opportunities has run into a snag, with some delegates opposing the recommendations of its three-member Growth Management Committee (GMC).
The GMC recommended that 7,500 ETH from Arbitrum's treasury be deployed to three decentralized finance protocols, none of which are Arbitrum-native. The committee proposed investing 5,000 ETH in liquid staking protocol Lido, in exchange for 5,000 wstETH (staked ETH) tokens, then investing the 5,000 wstETH in Aave V3 on Arbitrum to encourage borrowing and benefit from a planned incentive program involving Lido, Aave, Renzo, and Kelp. The final 2,500 ETH would be deployed to lending protocol Fluid's Arbitrum platform.
The committee settled on the recommendations after reviewing proposals from 45 protocols, including Arbitrum-native protocols such as Dolomite, GMX, and Camelot. The GMC expects the wstETH deposits to generate 4.54% yield, with the Fluid allocation generating 1-2% native ETH yield and generating liquidity for the Arbitrum ecosystem. GMC members did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
"While the GMC wanted to venture further down the risk curve in order to increase yield, help bootstrap up and coming protocols, bolster Arbitrum native/aligned protocols, among other desires, it determined that a strong/conservative foundation for the DAO’s treasury strategy made the most sense until the DAO becomes more capable of actively managing positions," Entropy Advisors wrote in the proposal.
#ARB #ArbitrumBOLD