The former ING senior accountant who worked at ING Australia Holdings was sentenced to at least seven years' jail last week for stealing $45.3 million from the multinational insurance and finance company over five years.

Rajina Subramaniam, 42, blamed her fraud to her manager, whom she described to be a slacker.

Subramaniam told the Sydney Morning Herald: ''My manager is so slack, he didn't care, so I was sort of doing it to see when I would get caught [but] you know, he just left it open for me.''

She added the manager showed utter lack of interest in their jobs.

ING has recovered only a third of the $45.3 million stolen, since Subramaniam spent most of the money on properties bought well above market rates and luxury jewelries including $16 million worth of Paspaley Pearls.

ING suffered a $30 million net loss over the fraudulent activities of Subramaniam, who is understood to have worked her way up from the position of assistant accountant.

She did not have any formal accounting qualifications, according to the Herald.

As a senior accountant she made 200 illegal transfers into her personal accounts or directly to shops and real estate agents.

She then used the computer log-ins of former staff to delete the records or alter them so the transactions appeared legitimate.

An ING spokeswoman said the case was an exceptional circumstance of fraud, involving a trusted long-time employee.

Shortly after being arrested, Subramaniam told the police she would not have been successful in her crime if her manager had paid attention in what she was doing.