Sydney Ferries boss stripped of gong

The governor-general has removed an Order of Australia from former Sydney Ferries boss and ex-Navy officer Geoffrey Smith.

Former Sydney Ferries boss Geoff Smith (left) arrives at the Downing Centre Court in Sydney, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. The retired Rear Admiral appeared in court after he was sacked from Sydney Ferries for putting $273,000 in personal expenses on his corporate credit card. (AAP)

A former deputy chief of Navy and Sydney Ferries boss has been stripped of his Australian honours.

Governor-General Peter Cosgrove has terminated the appointment of Geoffrey Smith as an officer of the Order of Australia in the military division.

Smith was last year jailed for defrauding Sydney Ferries of more than $200,000.

Retiring from the Navy in 2002, he was hired to turn the troubled transport company around in 2006.

From September 2006 to May 2008 he defrauded Sydney Ferries of more than $128,000.

He eventually paid back all but $23 of this but then went on to steal a further $111,649.

This was spent on funding a lavish lifestyle, which included expensive family holidays and repayments on a Sydney home valued at more than $2 million.