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A student was relying on benefits in order to study – but thought her lucky day had come when she was mistakenly\u00a0given \u00a3850,000 instead of her usual \u00a385 monthly university food grant.<\/p>\n
Scholar Sibongile Mani, 32, immediately splashed \u00a350,000 of the funds in just three months – after they were incorrectly sent to her bank account.<\/p>\n
The South African student woke up a millionaire with 14 million rands in her account and quickly went on a vast shopping spree.<\/p>\n
She\u00a0ditched her old wardrobe for designer clothes, picked up the latest\u00a0iPhone\u00a0and treated herself to an expensive weave.<\/p>\n
But she was arrested after the freak money transfer was discovered.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Lord of Walthamstow auctions off his name after his daughter refused to take it<\/strong><\/p>\n A student at\u00a0Walter Sisulu University, Ms\u00a0Mani, a just-married mother-of-two,\u00a0splashed out on \u00a3100 bottles of scotch at swanky venues where she partied several nights and spent over \u00a3600 a day.<\/p>\n However, after she left a bank receipt at a supermarket, her spending spree was cut short and authorities got involved.<\/p>\n She was arrested in 2017 and charged with theft and fraud, before being sentenced last year to five years in prison.<\/p>\n After her sentencing, Ms Mani wrote on her blog she saw it as “miracle money” and a “gift from God”.<\/p>\n She added she “didn’t think twice” on whether it was wrong to spend it.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> Her lawyer Mr Asanda Pakade appealed her sentence on the grounds that Mani was no danger to society, she had not sought out the money, and was not a candidate for overcrowded prisons.<\/p>\n He also pointed out that the university had mistakenly sent her the money and had not itself noticed the error until students told them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two judges agreed to suspend the five year prison sentence providing she did not commit theft or fraud in that time.<\/p>\n She was also told to complete 14 weeks of community service and undergo counselling.<\/p>\n
Greedy couple who ‘wanted to be millionaires’ fleeced parents out of \u00a3117k[REVEAL] <\/strong>
‘I had months of negative pregnancy tests before giving birth on bathroom floor'[INSIGHT] <\/strong>
Furious caf\u00e9 owner hits back as garden centre kicks him out as ‘food is poor'[ANALYSIS] <\/strong><\/p>\n\n