A man who went on a wild spending spree after $515,000 was mistakenly transferred into his account has landed himself in jail.
Abdel Ghadia appeared at Sydney's Burwood Local Court last month where he pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Back in 2021, AU $760,000 ($515,000, £420,000) had been mistakenly transferred into Ghadia’s account, prompting the aspiring rapper to go on a spending spree.
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Court documents show that Ghadia, 24, found the money in his account after a Sydney couple attempting to buy a new home accidentally transferred the money.
The couple, famous nutritionist Tara Thorne and her husband Corey, were nearing the final stages of buying a home last year when their broker told them to transfer $759,314 to a nominated Commonwealth Bank account to finalise the purchase.
However, the conveyancer came back to them to say that the bank wasn’t able to find the money, which never made it to the specified account.
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Ghadia - who raps under the name Slimmy and had been earning $4,800 ($3,200, £2,600) a month at a clothes warehouse - was apprehended and questioned by police in October 2021, telling officers he ‘just woke up and saw the money'.
“The money just dropped into my account and I spent it,” Ghadia said. "I had no idea how it got there, and I told the bank, but I did go and spend it.”
After waking up to find the cash in his account, Ghadia decided to go on a wild shopping spree, starting off at the ABC Bullion store, where he spent a total of $598,188 on gold bars ranging in weight from 10oz to 1kg, with the purchases stretched out over six visits in June 2021.
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He also spent $62,843 on a 500g gold bullion and 10oz bar at Queensland-based gold dealer Ainslie Bullion, as well as $48,222-worth of gold KHC coins.
Ghadia ‘wanted to give gold’ to someone he ‘loved’ - which he admitted to police upon his arrest – so he delved into the international money market to buy $14,490 in foreign exchange.
Between June and July that year, he also withdrew $13,600 in cash from ATMs across Sydney before finally splashing out $6,235 on clothes from Uniqlo and JD Sports and makeup from MECCA at Westfield Parramatta.
Unfortunately for Ghadia, his spending spree ended up landing him behind bars.
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On Monday (12 December), he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He’ll be eligible for parole in October 2023.
Aisha Nozari