Roxy Jacenko hits the gym as husband Oliver Curtis gardens on work release

OLIVER Curtis, the jailed husband of A-list queen Roxy Jacenko, is now working as a maintenance man - mowing lawns, gardening and picking up rubbish while on day release from prison.

A gaunt looking Oliver Curtis pictured at Cooma Correctional jail. Picture: John Grainger

AS Sydney PR queen Roxy Jacenko pumped iron at an exclusive inner city gym her disgraced banker husband Oliver Curtis was sweating it out in a very different way when he was released from prison for the day to mow and garden around council parks.

The former private schoolboy, who is currently serving a one-year jail sentence for insider trading, has been so well behaved at Cooma Correctional Centre that he has been moved to an area known affectionately by inmates as “the farm” and spends up to six hours a day outside.

Disgraced former banker Oliver Curtis on yard duties at Cooma Correctional Jail’s storage site. Picture: John Grainger

Yesterday a gaunt looking Curtis was seen leaving the minimum security campus, about five hours south of Sydney, wearing workman’s boots, a long-sleeved green polo shirt and shorts and a $14 plastic watch — a far cry from the Gold Rolex he handed to his wife when he was sentenced last year.

Prison sources have told the Daily Telegraph Curtis was a particularly “hard and meticulous worker” and one of the few trusted inmates who was allowed to work outside the jail.

During his trial, Jacenko, the director of Sweaty Betty PR, posted selfies of designer outfits on Instagram and since his incarceration has flown to Cooma on a private jet to visit him.

Curtis has been granted access to an area known as “the farm” and spends up to six hours a day outside. Picture: John Grainger

Curtis is allowed to roam free in the paddock at “The Farm”. Picture: John Grainger

The former St Ignatius Riverview student is classified as a “maintenance worker” and last week got down and dirty around town — picking up rubbish as part of Clean Up Australia Day.

Curtis, 31, who went to jail over $1.4 million trading scam he hatched with former best friend John Hartman, would be used to earning big bucks but is now earning as little as $23 a week.

Roxy Jacenko, pictured leaving work yesterday, continues to flaunt her lavish lifestyle while her husband serves time in jail. Picture: Adam Taylor

The money he earns has allowed him to buy luxury items like televisions, watches and a doona. The last item which is particularly valuable in the freezing Cooma climate.

Curtis is living on the acreage with 39 other inmates — including a couple of convicted murderers and habitual drink drivers who are nearing the end of their prison sentences.

The inmates are allowed to roam free in the paddock, which has sheep in it, and tend to veggie patches while many of them work on textiles and wooden craft sold at the NSW Corrective Services museum in Cooma.

Jacenko works up a sweat at the exclusive P.E. Dept gym in Potts Point. Pictures: Instagram

Jacenko gets some of her own gardening done at her office. Picture: Instagram

Prisoners also make prison greens for the rest of the state and even bras and underwear for the state’s female population.

Some have their own rooms but most are sharing a bunk in rooms considered luxurious by prison standards because they have carpets.

Inmates perform a number of jobs in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, including maintenance of gardens, river and creek beds, showgrounds, ovals and village road entrances.

They also work on community projects such as the construction of children’s swings and land clearing as well as the fencing and harvesting of produce from Corrective Services NSW sites. Some of them even take members of the public on tours of the prison museum.

Curtis was spotted in work boots and a green polo shirt as he headed out of the minimum security facility. Picture: John Grainger

Some of the prisoners get chummy on the job. Picture: John Grainger

Cooma jail was built in the 1870s and is Australia’s oldest working jail and a former mental institution situated on a main street in the heart of town.

In June last year NSW Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum sentenced Curtis to a maximum of two years’ jail but he can be released in June this year on a $2000 good behaviour bond.

The former Transocean Group banker was sentenced after a jury found him guilty of one count of conspiring to commit insider trading, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ jail.

Related

His former best friend Hartman was the Crown’s star witness, who gave evidence against Curtis in return for a lighter sentence.

In her sentencing remarks Justice McCallum noted that Curtis had “not expressed contrition openly or accepted any responsibility” for the 45 illegal trades made during 2007 and 2008.

She also said the former son of mining company chairman Nick Curtis, had been an “equal and willing participant” in the scheme which allowed him to “fund a lifestyle of conspicuous extravagance”.