Luke Lowes was ordered to pay more than $5,000 in reparations and complete 200 hours of community service after siphoning funds raised for multiple events held by the Association into his own bank account.

Lowes organised ticketed events for the MBA between 2019 and 2022 including national awards events, golf challenges and a Business Excellence Australia event. The ACT Supreme Court heard that Lowes used the funds to continue gambling in an effort to make up his losses and pay the money back.

Lowes paid back around $11,000 before he was arrested, with insurers paying out more than $56,000 to cover the loss to the MBA.

“The fraudulent activity was bad enough, but the fact he went to extremes to cover up the fraud … was even more disappointing,” MBA CEO Denita Wawn said in a victim impact statement.