A 21-year-old woman
accused of going on an extraordinary spending spree after $4.6 million was
mistakenly transferred into her bank account is set to be released on bail.
Christine Jiaxin Lee
was arrested at Sydney Airport on Thursday morning as she attempted to fly to
Malaysia on an emergency passport after a warrant had been issued for her
arrest in March over money which was wrongly transferred into her Westpac bank
account in 2012.
She had been granted
bail on Thursday, provided she paid $1,000, surrendered her passport and lived
with boyfriend Vincent King. However, she was blocked from leaving custody when
her boyfriend couldn't prove his identity and made spelling errors on the
application form.
On Friday, Mr King
presented several documents to Waverly Local Court with his name being amended
to Junnan Jin so the Malaysian-born woman could make bail.
The chemical
engineering student spent Thursday night behind bars after she was granted bail
but not released as there were inaccuracies in her bail information, which
included the spelling of an address on Marquet Street she was staying at with
Mr King in Rhodes.
Mr King arrived just
before 9.30am to speak to Ms Lee's Legal Aid lawyer who appeared on her behalf
as she remained in custody.
Dressed in a black
tracksuit and cap, he spent a short time with lawyers before leaving and
returning with a surgical mask over his face.
He was seen with Ms
Lee's mother also dressed in a black tracksuit and cap with a surgical mask
over her face.
The pair wore the
masks to obscure their faces in a bid to hide keep their identities a secret.
Ms Lee is thought to
have been held at Surry Hills Police Station. She will have her case heard
again in court on June 21.
The 21-year-old was
detained at Sydney Airport on Wednesday night when she attempted to leave
Australia en route to Malaysia - four years after she wrongly received the
money.
According to police,
Ms Lee opened the bank account before her 18th birthday, but it was not until
2014 that she started withdrawing money. Her transactions between 2014 and 2015
totalled $4,653,333.02, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Police have also
reportedly indicated that Ms Lee's immigration status has been called into
question as she is on a student visa that is set to expire next year.
The Daily Telegraph said immigration
authorities were considering taking Ms Lee into custody once she is bailed, but
the Department of Immigration have been unable to confirm the
allegations.
A spokesperson told
Daily Mail Australia that they were 'aware of the case' but would not comment
further.
'It is not
appropriate for the Department to discuss matters before the court or an
individual's visa status,' a spokesperson said on Friday.
When the Malaysian
national appeared in Waverley Local Court on Thursday, she claimed she was
living at a prestigious sub-penthouse in the inner west of Sydney.
With natural
surroundings and oceanfront views of Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Rider Boulevard
apartment is rented at $780 a week or $3120 per month, according to property
records.
The contemporary
property boasts two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, a spacious living and
dining area which leads to a balcony - and just walking distance from cafes,
restaurants and shops.
She allegedly
splashed out $3.3 million in less than a year, making cash transfers and adding
to a collection of designer handbags, according to Nine News.
Earlier on Thursday,
she was granted bail but her boyfriend Vincent King - who tried to pay a
$1000 bond for her release - was only carrying a Malaysian ID card and
officers could not verify his identity, The Daily Telegraph reported.
There was also a
misspelling on her bail address, which must be updated in front of a magistrate
before she can be released.
Lee appeared at
court on Thursday after being charged with dishonestly obtaining financial
advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The court heard that
although the police fraud unit had started their investigation into the
withdrawal of the money in 2012, they only issued the arrest warrant on March 4
this year.
The student told her
lawyer that she had obtained the emergency passport to fly home to Malaysia to
visit her parents, who did not know about her arrest.
Lee's lawyer, Fiona
McCarron told the court that the money was partly spent on luxury items like
expensive handbags, to which the Magistrate commented: 'That's a lot of
handbags.'
And Ms Stapleton
agreed with the lawyer when she said the police would struggle to prove the
spending of the money was illegal.
'They gave it to
her,' said the Magistrate, who added that if it was proved that the money was
indeed given to Lee, then the student would owe the money to the bank and have
to pay it back.
'But she wouldn't
necessarily have broken the law,' said the Magistrate.
Court documents
revealed she is alleged to have committed the offences on multiple occasions
between July 2014 and March 2015.
She was mistakenly
given a $4.6million overdraft on her Westpac account four years ago and
allegedly owes the bank $3.3million after spending the cash on designer
goods.
It is alleged she
failed to notify the bank that she was not entitled to the money. The
court heard she knew police were attempting to make contact with her and she
obtained an emergency Malaysian passport in order to leave the country.
She was granted bail
for $1,000 and faces strict bail conditions, with Magistrate Lisa Stapleton
agreeing with the prosecution that her attempts to flee Australia meant that
she posed a flight risk.
But Ms Stapleton
suggested Lee may not have broken the law as the money she spent 'isn't
proceeds of crime. It's money we all dream of', according to Fairfax Media.
She agreed with
Lee's lawyer it would be hard to prove Lee had done anything wrong.
'She didn't take it
from them. They gave it to her,' she said.
If that was so, Lee
would owe the bank the money spent but would not have broken the law, she
added.
Lee, who claimed to
have obtained the emergency passport because she had lost her original one,
will not be allowed to enter any international airport.
She is also not
allowed to apply for another passport. Lee, who has lived in Australia for five
years, lives with
her boyfriend at Rhodes in Sydney's north-west.
She is three years
through a four-year chemical engineering degree but has deferred her final
year.
Earlier on Thursday,
her boyfriend of 18 months, arrived at Waverley Local Court where he told
reporters that he had no knowledge of the funds.
He said he had 'no
idea' she had ever been given access to the money and reportedly claimed to
have never seen her make any extravagant purchases.
It wasn't until
Thursday morning when Lee called him asking for help that he knew anything
about it.
When told how much
money she'd had access to, he said 'that's big money'.
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