From Payroll to Prison: How One Woman’s Lavish Lifestyle Cost Her a Decade

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In the bustling streets of Singapore, where the air smells of ambition and the occasional whiff of regret, Ho Kai Xin, a former payroll manager, has been handed a sentence that would make even the most hardened criminal wince—nine years and eleven months behind bars. Her crime? Pilfering a cool $4.2 million from Bybit, a crypto firm that probably didn’t see this coming. 🕵️‍♀️💸

According to the Strait Times, our 32-year-old protagonist pleaded guilty to a smorgasbord of charges: five counts of cheating, eight of benefiting from criminal conduct, and one for lying to a public servant. Thirty other charges were also thrown into the mix during her court hearing, because why not? The prosecution painted a picture of Ho living the high life since June 2022, funded by the crypto she swiped from Bybit. 🏖️🛍️

From October 2021 to October 2022, Ho, armed with nothing but her wits and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, manipulated payroll payments for around 900 Bybit employees. In January, she was already serving a six-week sentence for disobeying court orders after splurging $627,633 on a penthouse and luxury goods. Because, of course, she did. 🏢💍

Ho’s longer sentence will begin once she’s done with her six-week stint. Talk about a double whammy. 🎭

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin revealed that Ho used her ill-gotten gains to buy luxury items from Louis Vuitton, including sunglasses, bags, shoes, shirts, and rings. She also put down $560,388 for a penthouse worth over $2.7 million. Because nothing says “I’m sorry” like a penthouse. 🏙️👜

Ho’s first heist was in May 2022, when she stole over $87,417 from Wechain, the company handling Bybit’s payroll. She manipulated Excel files to redirect funds to her bank accounts. When her actions went unnoticed, she went on a cheating spree, draining Bybit’s coffers. 🕳️💳

Ho had six bank accounts and four electronic wallets on different crypto platforms. She altered Excel rows to redirect payments to her wallet address instead of Bybit employees’. From May to August 2022, Bybit transferred over 4.2 million USDT to Ho’s wallets. She then converted the stolen crypto into fiat currency and laundered a large portion of the funds. 🧼💵

Her crimes were discovered in September 2022 when a Wechain finance director noticed unusually large crypto transfers. After internal investigations, Ho was reported to the police in February 2023 and arrested two months later. 🚨🔍

Ho Kai Xin
Bybit Office

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2025-02-20 14:05