Corryong's Scott Burgess, 42, was the co-owner of the building used for ANZ's former Corryong branch and when it closed, he found bags of private documents that were supposed to be shredded, but were left behind.

Instead of returning the documents, he tried to take the opportunity last year to recoup money he believed the bank owed him for leaving the yard of the building in poor condition.

He has since pleaded guilty to blackmail.

In sentencing him in the County Court on Friday, Judge Gerard Mullaly said Burgess demanded a "significant amount of money".

"That fact that it was foredoomed from the outset does not diminish the sizable amount of the demand and the attached level of criminality," he said.

Burgess, a former real estate agent, took photographs of the boxes containing cheque books, statements of wills and bank statements and emailed them to the ANZ bank manager on February 25, 2019.

He said he was "very disappointed" with the bank and would take the story to the media if the $25,000 was not paid.

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"The commercial reputation is important to the ANZ bank. It did not want its inadvertent failure to protect customers' confidentiality to be widely known through the local media. It simply wanted its property back," Judge Mullaly said.

But the plan failed and ANZ went to the police.

ANZ and police orchestrated a plan to covertly record audio while conducting the exchange of documents and a money transfer.

The transaction was immediately reversed when Burgess left the building to find police officers waiting to arrest him.

But despite this, he tried to blackmail the bank again.

Burgess had found more of the confidential documents that were left behind and emailed managers again to demand $25,000.

This time ANZ refused to pay. Judge Mullaly said the second blackmail was a "concerning element".

"Your exploitation of the situation that arose is to be condemned, but I cannot see this as a sophisticated, highly-malevolent example of blackmail," he said.

"Even with your level of naivety, you know it was wrong."

Prosecutors had asked for a jail sentence, but Judge Mullaly said "an onerous community corrections order is the just and appropriate sentence".

He placed Burgess on a two-year community corrections order with 250 hours of unpaid work.

Burgess, who appeared in court via video link, showed no reaction when the sentence was handed down.

The court had heard the his Corryong home was damaged in the summer bushfires, which had "a significant impact on him".

Judge Mullaly refused a request to not hand down the sentence with a conviction, as this could make it difficult for Burgess to travel to Mexico where his son now lives.

"The need for denunciation and deterrence are important and would be undermined if there was a non-conviction penalty imposed," he said.

"You are ashamed and remorseful at your conduct ... You are, in my estimate, unlikely to offend again."