Student mistakenly received 1 million dollars in scholarship
'01.09.2017'
Source: CNN
At 27, a year old student at Walter Sisulu University in Mtata, South Africa, wealth unexpectedly collapsed. 1 080 000 dollars were mistakenly credited to her account for social scholarships. He writes about it CNN.
Student Sibongile Mani received a monthly social scholarship in the amount of 108 dollars as low-income. Mani spent this money on books necessary for education and on food.
When Sibongill discovered a mistake, instead of informing the authorities about the wrong charges, she went to spend the unexpectedly obtained wealth.
The next day, she appeared at the university with a very expensive haircut and expensive clothes. In a matter of days, a girl from a poor family turned into a glamorous society lady.
She bought designer clothes, got a brand new iPhone 7 model. She did not spare Sibongile money for her friends and relatives. She also bought expensive clothes for them and paid for trips to glamorous parties.
To celebrate the fact that she is now rich, Mani ordered 65 whiskey bottles, and not the cheapest one.
“She became very glamorous in these beautiful dresses with all the accessories and we thought she won the lottery. And she herself seems to have perceived it this way, ”Sibongile's friends say.
For two and a half months, the girl managed to spend the amount equivalent to 65 000 dollars.
The behavior of the student did not go unnoticed by the faculty and management of the university. Moreover, the management knew about the disappearance of a large amount of money from the accounts of the educational institution.
The management sent a request to the bank and he confirmed that a huge amount of error was transferred to the girl’s account.
Sibongile did not hide the origin of his money and all the friends knew that a scholarship with a few extra zeros came to her account.
But the girl was harassed on social networks, accusing her of having intentionally stolen money from other students.
As soon as the situation cleared up, the student’s accounts were blocked and the amount was returned to the institution.
The whole amount that she spent on entertainment - she will have to return. The South African authorities are still deciding whether to charge them for theft or it will be enough just to get them to pay back the entire amount spent to a penny.
Responsibility for the mistake made by the company took Intellimali, which is responsible for issuing student bank cards. They reported that they had already changed the work policy so that such incidents would not be repeated in the future.
“Intellimali has appointed a forensic auditor to investigate this incident, which can be described as unprecedented in the company's 10-year history,” said CEO Michael Ansell.
An official investigation is currently underway, and Intellimali declares that it will insist that a case be initiated against the girl for misappropriation of funds.
