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Student ‘spends $1m on handbags’ after bank glitch

Lawyers for a Sydney student mistakenly given an unlimited overdraft by Westpac allege the 21-year-old did nothing illegal.

Christine Jiaxin Lee from Rhodes in Sydney’s inner west was arrested on Wednesday evening as she tried to board a flight to Malaysia following a fraud investigation by NSW police.

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The investigation began in 2012 after a “glitch” in Westpac’s system granted the chemical engineering student an unlimited overdraft on her account.

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Police allege that when Ms Lee discovered this she failed to notify the bank, instead overdrawing her account to a sum of $4,653,333.02 between July 2014 and April 2015.

According to her lawyer Fiona McCarron, Ms Lee spent around $1 million of this money on handbags, luxury goods and other transfers. About $3.3 million of the money was still owing.

She appeared at Waverley Local Court on Thursday charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Magistrate Lisa Stapleton granted Ms Lee bail after reasoning the money wasn’t “the proceeds of crime” but rather a “dream” sum given to her by the bank.

“She didn’t take it from them. They gave it to her,” Ms Stapleton said.

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Ms Lee has been living in Australia for the past five years.

Her boyfriend offered $1000 in surety and agreed that she could live with him.

Prosecutor Marc Turner said Westpac had made repeated attempts to contact Ms Lee after discovering the glitch but she had not responded. A warrant for her arrest was granted on March 4 this year.

When she was arrested, Ms Lee was attempting to travel to Malaysia on an emergency Malaysian passport.

Her lawyer claimed Ms Lee obtained the passport because she lost her original one and needed to visit her parents.

Ms Lee’s boyfriend, Vincent King, told News Corp he had “no idea” Ms Lee had obtained the money, saying she was a “good girl”.

Ms Lee is due to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on June 21. Until then, she must adhere to strict bail conditions, including reporting to police twice daily.

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