He said she processed payroll,attended meetings about the scheme,maintained spreadsheets on how much tax ought to be paid,made payments for her brother for luxury cars,and she knew the vulnerable straw directors of the second-tier companies – whom she described as “maniacs” and “crazy” – were used to conceal the non-payment of tax.

Payne said Cranston had shown no contrition and “appears still to believe that she and her co-conspirators have done nothing wrong”.

Cranston’s barrister Troy Anderson,SC,previously argued his client had been a “minion” following instructions,and disputed that she had knowingly participated in the conspiracies before 2016.

“You wouldn’t necessarily – at 22 years of age – go,‘This is a bit crook,’ ” Anderson said.

The judge said,while he harboured strong suspicions,he was unable to find beyond reasonable doubt that Lauren Cranston’s knowledge of the conspiracies began in 2014,but found she knew no later than February 2015,with $101 million misappropriated since that time.

Payne said Cranston did not need a university degree to know the money she handled needed to be paid to the Tax Office and not transferred to third parties at the direction of her brother and his associates.

The Cranstons are the children of former ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston,who is not accused of any wrongdoing.

In a case report,published online,the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions described the Plutus network as “one of Australia’s largest and most complex criminal tax fraud enterprises”.

In January 2017,in one of 360 covert recordings before the jury,Adam Cranston said,“if this was fully uncovered,and they knew exactly what was going on,it would be ‘f---ingBen-Hur, man’.”

In that recording,Menon replied,“it would be the biggest tax fraud in Australia’s history”.

The judge suggested the loss to the Commonwealth of more than $100 million would need to be made up from additional taxes levied at taxpayers or by cuts to government spending. He noted the non-payment of tax occurred in the years immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no doubt that revenue fraud on the scale here has a corrosive effect on our society,” Payne said.

“The loss of over $100 million,which would’ve otherwise been available to fund government services,is a very significant injury suffered by all Australians.”

In a statement from the Australian Federal Police,Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said tax fraud was not a victimless crime and Cranston’s sentence “should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of trying to defraud the government and fund a lavish lifestyle at the expense of honest Australians”.

Cranston will be eligible for parole in March 2028. Her maximum term expires in 2031.

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