SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man who illegally collected 17.6 million frequent flyer points with some of the world's biggest airlines, without getting onto a plane, was jailed for fraud Wednesday, local media reported.

Austin Perrott, 45, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court in Melbourne to nine counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and was jailed for six months, local newsagency Australian Associated Press reported.

The court was told Perrott received the points between February 1996 and October 2002, while working as a Singapore Airlines customer services supervisor in Melbourne.

Perrott used a computer irregularity to collect points on 29 accounts from frequent flyer programs at nine airlines, including Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.

Perrott never used his frequent flyer points to fly but redeemed 4.3 million points, which he mostly sold to family and friends for money, the court heard.

Judge Roy Punshon said the value of the points stolen was about A$400,000 (US$296,000) and that Perrott's motive was probably his desire to make his family's life comfortable.



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