Rosario Monachino
A man has been jailed after going on a shopping spree with $515,000 that was mistakenly transferred into his bank account.
Abdel Ghadia, 24, was transferred $760,000 AUD ($515,000, £420,000) by accident in 2021.
The aspiring rapper, who goes by the name of Slimmy, had previously been working at a clothes warehouse and told police that he woke up and ‘saw the money’.
He then proceeded to go on a luxurious spending spree with his newfound riches.
However, this backfired and Ghadia has now found himself in trouble with the law.
Find out more about Abdel Ghadia spending $515,000 below…
Instagram nutritionist Tara Thorne and her husband Corey Brookes sent their house deposit to the wrong account, which ended up being Ghadia’s.
The couple assumed that they were doing business with their mortgage broker, Adam Magro, over email, but his email account had reportedly been hacked by a scammer.
9 News Australia reported that Ghadia told officials: “The money just dropped into my account and I spent it.”
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The news outlet also reported that rather than telling the police about the money, Ghadia went out and spent a staggering $700,000 on a massive shopping spree.
This included spending $598,188 on gold bars that ranged in weight from 10oz to 1kg.
He also spent $62,843 on a 500g gold bullion and 10oz bar as well as $48,222 worth of gold coins
The aspiring rapper also treated himself to clothes during his shopping spree from UNIQLO, JD Sports, and also made purchases at the makeup shop Mecca.
Following his arrest, Ghadia pleaded guilty to two counts of handling proceeds of crime upwards of $100,000.
The Magistrate court did acknowledge that Ghadia wasn’t the mastermind behind the scam.
However, on December 12, he was handed an 18-month jail sentence.
Ghadia will be eligible for parole in 10 months.
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He was also ordered to pay the money back, however, the courts admitted that the likelihood of this happening would be ‘bleak’.
The gold that Ghadia purchased is yet to be recovered.
Meanwhile, Thorne and her husband are yet to receive any compensation or reimbursement for the mistaken transaction.
In their victim impact statements, the couple described their financial stress as ‘unbearable’.
They added that they have had to borrow money from family and have since gotten further in debt in order for them to stay afloat.
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They also said that Thorne is suffering from anxiety and depression and acknowledged that even if they worked into their 90s, they won’t make the money back.
Brookes told the news outlet after the verdict: “The courts made the decision and we have to comply with that.”
When asked what they see in their future, he responded: “More hard work.”
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