Matt Damon-endorsed crypto firm accidentally sends woman $10m instead of $100

After realizing its error seven months later, Crypto.com resorted to legal action in a bid to recover the money. (Crypto.com)
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Updated 31 August 2022
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Matt Damon-endorsed crypto firm accidentally sends woman $10m instead of $100

  • Company realizes error seven months later and is now fighting to get the money back

DUBAI: Amid all the crypto craze and crash, one company might end up paying a heavy price for an error it made last year.

Crypto.com, the firm that hired Matt Damon for its 2021 Super Bowl ad, intended to issue a $100 refund to an Australian woman, Thevamanogari Manivel, in May last year — but ended up sending $10 million by mistake.

After realizing its error seven months later, Crypto.com resorted to legal action in a bid to recover the money.

Even Victorian Supreme Court Judge James Elliott was surprised, writing in a court ruling: “Extraordinarily, the plaintiffs allegedly did not realize this significant error until some seven months later, in late December 2021.”

The company managed to have Manivel’s accounts frozen, but she had already split the money with six other people, including her sister for whom she bought a $1 million mansion in Melbourne, according to media reports.

Still, Crypto.com might be able to get at least some of its money back.

Last week, the company won a court ruling ordering the defendants to repay all of the money,  cover legal expenses that were incurred, and pay interest of 10 percent, amounting to just over $20,000.

The court also ordered that the Melbourne property be sold and the proceeds used to reimburse Crypto.com.

Attempts to contact Manivel and her solicitors have been in vain, according to reports.

Following the latest court ruling, it remains to be seen if Manivel and her sister will be able to hand over the money.


Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square

Updated 18 February 2026
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Trunk snapped off famed Bernini statue in Rome square

ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A ‌marble elephant designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini has been damaged, with ​its left tusk found snapped off and lying at the base of the monument in the heart of Rome, authorities said.
The damage was uncovered on Monday night and police said they ‌would review ‌video footage from ​Piazza ‌della ⁠Minerva ​to determine whether ⁠the tusk was vandalised or simply fell off following weeks of unusually heavy rains.
Italy's Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli made clear he thought it was deliberate, saying the ⁠17th statue, which supports an ‌ancient Egyptian ‌obelisk, was victim of ​an "absurd act of ‌barbarity".
"It is unacceptable that once ‌again the nation's artistic and cultural heritage must suffer such serious damage," he said in a statement.
It is not ‌the first time the sculpture, popularly known as the Elefantino (little ⁠elephant), ⁠has been damaged.
In November 2016, the tip of the same tusk was similarly found broken off. The piece was reattached during restoration work.
The sculpture, created in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata based on a design by Bernini, stands a short distance from the ​Pantheon, one of ​most visited tourist sites in Rome. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri, editing by ​Crispian Balmer)