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© AFP/File Greg Wood

SYDNEY (AFP) - Vince Ficarra, 27, and David Bullen, 34, made a raft of fictitious trades for the National Australia Bank (NAB) between September 2003 and January 2004 to mask massive losses.

Bullen was sentenced to 44 months in prison and Ficarra to 28 months.

During their trial, the pair said senior management at the bank were aware of the manipulation of trades, a practice known as smoothing which aims to reduce the volatility of the profit and loss account.

But the men were found guilty in May on multiple counts of fraudulently seeking to gain from unauthorised currency trades.

Passing sentence Tuesday, Judge Geoff Chettle said the two traders and the rest of their team saw themselves as "invincible."

"In the corporate culture that existed, you forgot your legal responsibilities to the bank, its management and its shareholders," he said.

"General deterrence must be the principal sentencing consideration for crimes such as yours."

Their boss, Luke Duffy, was sentenced to 29 months in prison in June 2005 for his part in the scandal, which led to a shake-up of NAB's top management.

Duffy had pleaded guilty to three charges of dishonestly using his position for personal gain.

A fourth trader, Gianni Gray, was sentenced to 16 months jail in April.

Chettle said Bullen and Ficarra showed good prospects for rehabilitation and accepted the offences occurred "in a culture of profit-driven morality.

"Your employment required you to take risks in order to achieve the projections and targets set for your desk," he added. "To further your career, you had to succeed."

©AFP