Christine Jiaxin Lee, 21, was arrested just before boarding her flight to Malaysia at Sydney Airport on Wednesday night, on the charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime
SYDNEY — Malaysia national Christine Jiaxin Lee, 21, has been arrested for spending millions of Australian dollars that were mistakenly given to her by her bank in Australia four years ago.
Lee, a chemical engineering student in Sydney, was only 17 when the Westpac Bank accidently gave her an overdraft limit amounting to A$4.6 million.
She kept the mistake to herself and spent A$3.3 million on handbags and other luxury items, as well as making cash transfers, in less than a year. She also rented a penthouse apartment with Sydney Harbour Bridge views in Rhodes, for A$3120 a month.
Lee planned her exit strategy when police tried to contact her about the money. She somehow obtained an emergency Malaysian passport in order to allegedly sneak out of the country.
However, Lee was arrested just before boarding her flight to Malaysia at Sydney Airport on Wednesday night on the charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Magistrate Lisa Stapleton granted Lee bail on Thursday and said Lee was not involved in the proceeds of crime, but "it's money we all dream of", adding that Lee may not have actually broken the law.
Lee had to surrender her passport and now has to live with her boyfriend, who claimed that he had no knowledge of the money Lee had spent.
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An Australian student has landed herself in trouble after she spent a large amount of a 4.6 million Australian dollar overdraft a bank accidentally gave to her.
News.com.au reported that Christine Jiaxin Lee, who was just about to turn 18 when she gained access to the funds, was arrested in Sydney airport on Wednesday trying to flee to Malaysia.
According to her lawyer, Fiona McCarron, Lee spent most of the money on luxury goods and expensive handbags.
One of Australia’s biggest banks, Westpac, claims the enormous amount of money was made available to her due to a “glitch” in their system.
Lee, who is now 21, appeared in court today after being charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Magistrate Lisa Stapleton said it would be hard to prosecute Ms. Lee as she simply used funds that were made available to her. Unless they prove could otherwise, no law would have been broken and Ms. Lee would just owe the massive amount of money back to the bank.
She reportedly failed to notify the bank of the error and kept it a secret from everyone for four years, including her boyfriend, Vincent King, who she lives with.
Mr King told press outside the court today that he had “no idea” that his girlfriend had access to those kind of funds and the first he heard about it was when she called asking for his help.
Ms. Lee will appear in court again next month to answer the charges..
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