news, local-news,

GOULBURN man Luke Moore has been sentenced to a minimum of two years and three months jail after being found guilty of obtaining financial advantage by deception and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime. It's a case that's drawn the eye of national media with 27-year-old Moore now infamous for his luxury lifestyle while living on Centrelink payments. In March 2010 Moore opened a complete freedom account with the St George Bank Goulburn branch. Over a two-year period, Moore overdrew the account by some $2.189 million. It was found he made transfers into PayPal and National Australia Bank accounts to cover his tracks. On the morning of December 12, 2012, police raided Mr Moore’s West Goulburn home, seizing hundreds-of-thousands of dollars worth of goods in the process. Some 26 months after the raid, he was found guilty in February this year. Following sentencing in Sydney District Court on Friday, the earliest he will be released from prison is May 2017. Judge Stephen Norrish, in handing down the charge, described the defence (which suggested Mr Moore was awaiting contact from the bank about his spending) as "almost laughable". "He would have realised that he had no authority to the sums that he withdrew," he said. "He thought he could get away with anything and he almost did." Given the belief Moore had good chances of rehabilitation, his sentence was backdated to February 18, when he was first taken into custody after being on conditional bail before his trial.

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