A 28-year-old university student is fighting for her freedom after she lavished $1 million dollars mistakenly credited to her account.


Sibongile Mani

A South African student has found herself in serious trouble after she spent more than $63,000 of $1.1 million erroneously paid into her account.

According to APF, the woman identified as 28-year-old Sibongile Mani has been arrested and arraigned in court on Tuesday for alleged theft.

Sibongile Mani, 28, was arrested by the police’s serious commercial crime unit after she was asked to turn herself in, Anelisa Feni, spokeswoman for an elite police unit, the Hawks, told AFP.

Mani, a student at Walter Sisulu University in Eastern Cape province, appeared before a magistrate court on charges of theft.

She qualified last year for 1,400-rand ($110) in monthly food allowances from the National Students Financial Aid Scheme, which aids underprivileged students.

Instead, she was accidentally given $1.1 million in June and went on a spending spree, splurging on expensive clothing, a smartphone and partying.

It took the scheme three months to detect the error. It recovered the remainder of the funds from her bank account.

Mani was released on a warning and ordered to appear again on July 2.