Sibongile Mani, a college student in South Africa, was shocked to discover that $1 million was accidentally transferred into her financial aid account.
Instead of reporting the error — which was supposed to be a modest $100 stipend for food and books — Sibongile went shopping.
via NYDN:
The Herald Live reports that she started coming to class in designer outfits and threw her friends over-the-top parties. It was her new extravagant lifestyle that ultimately raised suspicion and led to another WSU student alerting school officials.
“She bought an iPhone 7 and clothes for herself and each of her friends,” one student told the outlet. “She suddenly appeared at lectures wearing designer clothes and she pimped up her crew of friends.”
Intellimi, the company responsible for issuing debit cards to financial aid students, admitted to making the error.
According to the CNN, by the time officials realized the mistake Mani had allegedly spent more than $60,000.
The student’s account has since been blocked and the remaining money was transferred out, a WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo told CNN.
She also said the error did not affect other students from receiving their financial aid.
“All students who were due to receive NSFAS payments got them,” Tukwayo said.
Mani has been ordered to pay back the money she spent. Intellimi said legal action may be taken for the misappropriation of funds.
In a since-deleted Facebook post, Mani said she had alerted officials about the money in her account.
“Today my personal life has become a social media scandal. I have been named and shamed in public. Today, I am a bad person, a person who stole the money of students,” she wrote, according to Herald Live. “With that being said, and being named a thief, but as we all know in every story there is truth and there are lies with the very same story.”
See — she messed up when she decided to get flashy!
