Sydney school fraudster avoids jail time

A former business manager who defrauded an elite Sydney private girls' school of around $400,000 has avoided going to prison.

Instead he will serve his 22-month sentence in the community.

Ian MacCulloch, 56, pleaded guilty to obtaining money and property by deception after he used a succession of Kambala School credit cards to fund around $400,000 in personal expenses between 2008 and 2013.

The 56-year-old resigned from his senior position at the school at the end of 2013 with the school council only discovering the fraud last year.

Kambala, located in Rose Bay, charges up to $29,500 in annual tuition fees.

MacCulloch has since paid back all of the stolen money in full, court has heard.

Magistrate Clare Farnan sentenced MacCulloch to the 22-month term which will expire in July 2017.