Talanoa Raine and her husband Trevor say the financial strain of living in Sydney drove them to steal more than $600,000 from betting agencies across two states - a scam even their relatives think deserved jail.

The couple were jailed for their part in conducting the fraud scam, with Ms Raine sentenced to one year, three months in prison, and Mr Raine to serve two years, four months for stealing more money earlier than his wife.

Mr Raine was the mastermind of the scam - an IT specialist working for Tabcorp who would search the organisation's computer system for winning tickets that hadn’t been redeemed for three months. He’d then copy the serial numbers and print duplicate tickets at home.

Talanoa and Trevor Raine were jailed for conducting an elaborate TAB betting scam that saw them steal more than $600,000 from the betting organisation (Supplied). (Supplied)

The couple would steal winning bet slips that were older than three months, copy the serial numbers, print duplicate tickets and cash out on the winnings (Supplied). (Supplied)

His wife would then cash in the fake tickets at multiple betting agencies across Sydney and Melbourne.

They started small - on the first occasion cashing in nine fake tickets for $4,000. From there, the couples greed grew to the point where they redeemed 260 tickets in just one day, worth a whopping $63,000.

The couple kept each single payment under the $10,000 threshold, which requires winnings to be reported to government authorities, and only cashed in unclaimed tickets that had been in the system for longer than three months.

At the peak, the couple redeemed 260 tickets in just one day - worth $63,000 in winnings (Supplied). (Supplied)

The duo had a failing dance competition business with debts around $20,000 and spiralling mortgage repayments. In recordings of phone intercepts, the pair were heard telling each other that the stolen money would “pay for (their) home”.

It was a sophisticated scam but one that was bound to be uncovered. Ultimately, it came undone when a customer tried to redeem a winning ticket that was several months old - only to find the winnings had already been paid out.