A 21-year-old Malaysian student who became a multimillionaire by accident when a bank mistakenly transferred $4.6 million to her account, is facing charges after blowing most of the money on luxury goods.
A “glitch” in Westpac’s system, a bank in Australia, reportedly sent the money transfer four years ago.
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Police say Christine Lee, an engineering student at the University of Sydney, spent $3.3 million on designer goods such as luxury handbags. Police say she also transferred cash to other accounts. So far, $1.3 million of the money has been reportedly recovered.
Lee was arrested this week at the Sydney Airport in Australia when she was catching a flight to Malaysia. Police fraud experts launched their investigation in 2012, but a warrant for her arrest was only issued in March this year.
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It wasn’t until Lee tried to leave the country that they were able to find her.
She is charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.