An Australian woman went on a spending splurge after more than £6.25 million appeared in her bank account—but now she might have to give it back.

Thevamanogari Manivel, from Melbourne, was sent more than $10.5million AUD (£6.25m) by the cryptocurrency exchange site Crypto.com after it tried to issue her a small refund for $100 (£58) in May 2021.

By the time the company realised its error seven months later, Manivel had already cashed in some of the funds, including by buying a multi-million pound five bedroom house in Melbourne.

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Now a court has ordered her to sell the house and return the money to Crypto.com.

Manivel's spending splurge could end up costing her plenty. The cryptocurrency site is now seeking an additional 10 percent interest on the lost amount, as well as legal costs and a further court case to retrieve the funds.

Justin Lawrence, a local lawyer, told Australian media: "There's no doubt that if you saw that in your account you would know it shouldn't be there, and the onus is actually on you to actually call the sender and to say look that shouldn't have come into my account.

"If you're withholding property of someone else you're effectively holding property by deception. You're not entitled to it, you need to give it back."

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Ms Manivel reportedly failed to show up to the court to defend her spending, with a further court date set for October.

Although accidentally receiving a big payment into your bank account might sound like a dream come true, it is illegal to keep the funds in most countries.

In the UK, if you keep hold of any money wrongfully sent to your account, you could be charged with 'retaining wrongful credit' under the Theft Act of 1968.

In one case, a woman from Blackburn was sentenced to 10 months in prison after spending £135,000 she received from her bank.

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