Student On Spending Spree After $1m Error Payment

A South African student who splurged more than $63,000 of $1.1 million she erroneously received was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in court for alleged theft, police said.

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.