What would you do if you checked your bank account to realize you had an additional $4.6 million that wasn't supposed to be there?
via: Guff
It happened to one girl, and the temptation proved too great. She went on a lavish shopping spree, trying to spend the cash before anyone noticed. But they did, and she paid a very steep price...Her name is Christine Jiaxin Lee, 21-year-old engineer from Malaysia who, when living in Australia as a student, found something shocking.
via: Guff
An error put $4.6 million into her bank account.It's like a dream come true!
Only, in real life, things that come this easy always have strings attached. This is no exception. People don't get millions of dollars from banks without others noticing.She didn't do anything to facilitate the error. It just happened due to a mix-up on the bank's part.
via: Guff
But that's where the ethical grey area ends. She took the money and went on a wild shopping spree. The temptation was too much to resist.She even got a fancy apartment.
via: Guff
She moved to Sydney's trendy Inner West neighborhood. That was the beginning of the end for her run of wealth, however.If you're noticing a trend, you're not alone.
She wasn't exactly using this money to secure her future. In fact, it was almost like a game to see how quickly she could blow through it.Oh, and she bought handbags. SO MANY HANDBAGS.
via: Guff
She spent almost a million bucks on them alone. Not the wisest use of money, now is it?Here are just a few. $320,000 wasn't a big deal for her, apparently. Even if that's the price of a house.
via: Guff
This graphic was created by the Sydney Morning Herald as they investigated exactly where the money went.She spent almost all of it in just a year.
via: Guff
$3.3 million of the $4.6 was gone. I guess you're not too careful with cash when you never worked for it. Just ask those broke lottery winners.
He learned only when she got arrested. She got out on bail, but has to report to the police station twice per day and give up her passport.
via: Guff
That's NOT the glamorous life she was hoping for. And somehow, it got even worse. I mean, can you believe this girl?She has to pay it ALL back.
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She claimed that she thought her parents gave her the money (WHAT?) but now has to pay back all the money she spent. It's being treated as a loan.Needless to say, the honeymoon is over.
via: Guff
I guess she does have some pretty wealthy parents, because it's being reported that they're going to cover the whole amount and get her out of debt. She says, "I have [told my parents about it] and they are not very happy with me." Duh.Well, duh. That's financial fraud. I can't imagine many parents, save for the ones who hope their daughter becomes a criminal, would be too please.
There are easy ways to make money, then there are stupid ways to make money. You can probably guess which route she took. The worst part is...she didn't even save it!Strangely enough, things like this aren't super-rare.
Read up on this guy who found the same "blessing" in his account one day, only to blow it all on the dumbest stuff imaginable.
Guess how THAT ended...