Woman charged over $3.4 m 'handbag spree'

Australian police have charged a 21-year-old woman with fraud after she allegedly spent $3.4 million that her bank mistakenly gave her, with much of the money reportedly lavished on handbags.

The woman, named in Sydney media as Malaysian chemical engineering student Christine Jiaxin Lee, reportedly splashed out on luxury apartment rentals, designer bags and other high-end items after her Australian bank gave her an unlimited overdraft on her savings account.

"That's a lot of handbags," magistrate Lisa Stapleton said on Thursday, according to Sydney's Daily Telegraph.