A rapper was arrested after going on a crazy buying spree with more than $750,000 AUD ($505,000 USD) that had unintentionally landed in his account.
According to Daily Mail, Abdel Ghadia, 24, was given an 18-month prison term on Monday (December 12) at Sydney’s Burwood Local Court.
It happens after a couple accidentally wired Ghadia $759,314 AUD ($511,000 USD) by entering the incorrect information for their bank account.
The ambitious musician, also known as “Slimmy” on YouTube, blew up a significant portion of their housing deposit on gold bullion bars, cosmetics, clothing, and foreign currency.
The source claims that on November 2 Ghadia made her initial court appearance and entered a plea of guilty to two counts of dealing with the profits of crime.
When the hopeful rapper woke up one morning and noticed the extra money in his bank account, he believed himself to be lucky. Instead of finding out where it came from or returning it, he made the decision to buy gold bullion worth more than $710,000.
In addition to the enormous sum, Ghadia spent an additional $6,235 on clothing from JD Sport and Uniqlo as well as some MECCA cosmetics for himself.
He also spent an additional $14,490 on foreign currency and withdrew about $13,600 from ATMs located throughout Sydney, increasing the whole cost of his extravagant spending spree to about $740,000.
The young couple, who were in the process of buying a home, have now been identified as Tara Thorne and her husband Corey, an Instagram-famous dietician.
The pair was struggling not only with the money going missing, but also with the fact that their mortgage broker’s email account had been hijacked by a scammer, according to A Current Affair.
Mortgage broker Adam Magro – who is married to federal MP Sophie Scamps – described the ordeal as a “very sophisticated scam,” adding: “My identity was stolen.” He explained: “The fraudster sent his bank account details to Corey and Tara and unfortunately, it was a very compelling fraud.”
According to the publication, the artist was detained by authorities as part of a campaign against a serious cybercrime organisation. Despite being charged, Ghadia does not appear to have been a part of the money transfer, according to court documents.
In addition, although Ghadia originally denied receiving the couple’s funds, he also seemed to make reference to the matter in an Instagram image with the caption: “Detectives making offers asking where’d the MONEY GO. They tapping all my phonecalls but I speak a different LINGO!!”
As previously mentioned, Ghadia will now spend 18 months behind bars. He will be eligible for parole in October 2023.
Featured image credit: Lbeddoe / Alamy
