Christine Jia Xin Lee leaves Ryde police station in Sydney. Credit:James Alcock Ms Lee, who moved to Australia to study five years ago, was arrested at Sydney Airport on May 4 as she tried to board a flight home to Malaysia. She was charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. It's alleged she opened the statement account one month shy of her 18th birthday – yet only realised in July 2014 that she had an unlimited overdraft. Over the next 11 months, she allegedly made hundreds of transactions, overdrawing to the tune of $4,653,333.02. At her first appearance in Waverley Local Court on May 5, magistrate Lisa Stapleton granted her bail and cast doubt on the case, saying it appeared Ms Lee hadn't broken the law. She said Ms Lee had allegedly used credit that was given to her by the bank and would therefore have to repay it rather than face criminal sanctions.

Christine Jia Xin Lee, 21, allegedly spent $4.6 million on luxury goods. Credit:Facebook However, Fairfax Media can reveal Ms Lee's repeated attempts to dodge the bank, the police, the courts and a $3.5 million debt before she suddenly surfaced at the international airport this month with an emergency-issue Malaysian passport. Westpac realised their extraordinary blunder on April 7, 2015 and immediately froze her account and served her with court-issued notices to produce the goods. Christine Lee's boyfriend, Vincent King, leaves Waverley court after offering $1000 surety. Credit:Daniel Munoz Twenty-seven items totalling about $1 million – including a Cartier bracelet, 16 Christian Dior handbags and four Hermes handbags – were handed in by Ms Lee in late April.

In May, the Supreme Court made orders allowing Westpac to seize any assets to repay the remaining $3,486,612.07. The Rhodes unit block Ms Lee fled from in February. Credit:Google StreetView A debt collector had to visit Ms Lee's harbour-view apartment in Rhodes seven times, eventually finding her at 10.57 on a Sunday morning in June and serving her with a bankruptcy notice and a summons to appear in the Federal Circuit Court where Westpac had applied to declare her bankrupt. She didn't show up at court and was declared an unregistered bankrupt in September. Ms Lee was detained at Sydney airport. Credit:Facebook

By February, she had disappeared from her Rider Boulevard apartment and agents had to put it back on the market with rent set at a lower price of $780 a week. In March, police issued a warrant for her arrest about the time she applied for an emergency passport. Calls and emails went unanswered and when she faced court, police said they didn't know where she had been living. In bankruptcy documents filed in the Federal Circuit Court last year, Westpac outlined about 79 items and a further 50 store transactions they believe were made using overdrafts. Many more transactions have not been traced. Initially, Ms Lee allegedly used a PayPal account to buy 52 items including a Sony "digital selfie" camera, two Casio cameras, a Dyson vacuum cleaner, Christian Louboutin​ "Equestria boots", Chanel cashmere pillows, two smartphones, 13 Hermes scarves and dozens of handbags, including a Hermes Himalayan Crocodile Birkin that retails for about $150,000. She then allegedly transferred money to a Commonwealth Bank account and used it to go on 20 shopping sprees between January and April 2015, spending $1.2 million.

At first she was conservative, spending $20,050 at the Chanel store, $6885 at Hermes and $1795 at Christian Louboutin in one day. Four days later, she spent $42,695 at Bvlgari, Christian Dior and Hermes. Even after her Westpac account had been frozen, she continued to spend money from the Commonwealth account for three days. She dropped $332,310 in three visits to the Christian Dior store in Sydney, $54,640 at Chanel and $15,553 on online boutique Far Fetch. Most of the items haven't been recovered, raising the possibility she sold them. On her Facebook account, Ms Lee gave few hints of her newfound wealth, posting occasional photos with a puppy, a motorbike and designer sunglasses. Her boyfriend Vincent King could only provide $1000 surety to bail Ms Lee out. Outside Waverley police station, his eyes bulged when reporters informed him about the allegations against his girlfriend.

"That's big money," he said, adding he had no idea about Ms Lee's alleged funds. When Fairfax Media visited Mr King's waterside unit in Rhodes this week, where Ms Lee has been ordered to live while on bail, the pair declined to comment.