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A former Melbourne aged care nurse who stole more than $140,000 from her ex-fiance over two years has escaped jail time.

Marie Heeraman, 52, hung her head as she walked free from the County Court of Victoria today after pleading guilty to a course of conduct theft charge.

The court heard she told her former lover she would help him manage his money, but instead she stole it.

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But through more than 800 transactions, she transferred and withdrew more than $140,000 without his knowledge.

The accounts were opened around the same time the couple split and she moved away before marrying someone else.

Heeraman splashed the money on food, homewares, personal grooming, bridal wear and even a new car, all the while reassuring her former lover through texts he could rely on her.

"You admit that through your continuous messaging you were stringing him along," Judge Sarah Dawes said.

"You drip fed money to the victim to avoid detection."

Heeraman was today sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.In a victim impact statement, Mr Peirce said he felt betrayed, claiming the case had greatly affected his physical and mental health.

Heeraman has repaid all the money and won't have to forfeit the car.

The court heard media attention surrounding the case and her conviction means she likely won't work as a nurse again.

Judge Dawes accepted she is remorseful and has good prospects for rehabilitation, but added: "Your public humiliation is a consequence of your grossly dishonest conduct".

Heeraman will be required to undertake 350 hours of unpaid community work.

The Melbourne mortgage broker who filmed and mocked police officers as they lay dying at a crash scene has been banned from providing financial services or engaging in credit activities.

Richard Pusey, 43, has been hit with a 10-year ban from the Australia Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which claims Pusey is not "of good character" and "has no regard for the law".

In a statement, ASIC revealed the commission "was satisfied" Pusey had submitted seven false statements between 2011 and 2017.

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The statement also says ASIC was satisfied Pusey lacked "the attributes of good character, honesty and judgement" and could not be relied upon to comply with authorities' direction.

It further deems Pusey "likely to contravene" credit and financial services legislation and "not a fit and proper person to participate in the financial services and credit industries".

The ban came into effect on August 6.

Pusey is the director of ISwitchNow Pty Ltd and was previously an authorised representative of Australian Life Insurance Distribution Pty Ltd.

The Porsche driver was jailed in April after being convicted of outraging public decency – an Australian first – for "callously" filming and taunting four officers who had been hit by a truck on April 22 last year.

A magistrate will decide whether to release Pusey from prison on Wednesday.

A major taxi company will soon allow passengers to choose drivers who are vaccinated against COVID-19.

All 13Cabs app bookings will only be serviced by vaccinated drivers in the coming months, a company spokesperson confirmed.

In addition to this, people who call the 13Cabs contact centre will also be able to request these drivers.

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The spokesperson said the move was due to customer demand for fully vaccinated drivers.

Chief Operating Officer Stuart Overell said the company hopes its drivers will get the vaccine soon "as soon as they are able".

"We are encouraging them to do so," Mr Overrell said.

READ MORE: New South Wales records 753 new COVID-19 cases

'Our focus is on ensuring passengers get access to a service that meets their expectations – particularly when it comes to safety.

"Our initiative is based on the assumption drivers will get the jab and the feedback from our drivers so far would indicate that assumption is accurate."

More than 42,000 Californians have been forced to flee their homes as nine large wildfires continue to burn out of control in the northern part of the state, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to request a major disaster declaration from President Biden.

The Caldor Fire, which has scorched more than 43,000 hectares, is the top firefighting priority in the nation, according to Chief Thom Porter of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire).

Officials fear the fire, which is just five per cent contained, may push its way into the populated Lake Tahoe Basin, and they warned all Californians to be ready to evacuate.

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"I personally don't believe the fire is going to get into the basin proper," Chief Porter said of Lake Tahoe. "But I could be born wrong by that. The weather has outstripped and Mother Nature has taken over and taken fires like the Dixie to places that I never thought possible."

Thick smoke from the raging wildfire turned the sky over Lake Tahoe an ominous orange yesterday, with the Environmental Protection Agency reporting hazardous air quality in the region.

The Dixie Fire – the second-largest fire in state history — which has been burning for more than a month, has grown so large that its perimeer stretches more than 800 square kilometres. That blaze has swelled to more than 293,400 hectares and is now 40 per cent contained.

Two other large fires, the Walker Fire and the French Fire, are still growing, and each inferno has its own specific needs, said Chief Porter, who is helping coordinate the massive effort to deploy resources, including firefighters, aircraft, and equipment to each area as appropriate.

"We're also working to make sure that we're resetting and getting our own people home and rested so we can sustain this fight. This is a marathon," said Chief Porter, noting that late August is about the middle point of the season for large and damaging fires that are expected to burn into the deep fall.

If granted, the presidential declaration would help provide help with housing, unemployment, counseling, and medical and legal services. Public assistance for repairs and replacement of schools, roads, utilities also would be included.

Several counties have already been declared states of emergency.

READ MORE: California's largest ever wildfire destroys hundreds of homes

Flames prompt closure of nine federal forests

Nine national forests in California were closed yesterday.

The US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region issued an emergency forest service closure through at least September 6, citing "extreme fire conditions throughout northern California, and strained firefighting resources throughout the country."

"These temporary closures are necessary to ensure public and firefighter safety, as well as reduce the potential for new fire starts," regional forester Jennifer Eberlien said.

The closures include Tahoe National Forest, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, Mendocino National Forest, Klamath National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest and Modoc National Forest.

The forest service said anyone violating the order could face fines up to $5000 (AU$7000) for an individual and $10,000 (AU$14,000) for an organisation, as well as up to six months in jail.

Additionally, the Eldorado National Forest, also in California, was closed on August 17 due to the Caldor Fire. That closure will last through at least September 30, the agency said.

The emergency closures in California come as 93 large active fires and complexes have burned over one million hectares across 13 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

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So far this year, more than 41,000 fires have scorched 0ver 1.8 million hectares, NIFC data showed. That's almost half a million hectares higher than the nearly 133,546 hectares burned by this time last year.

Some very minor relief is in the forecast as an onshore flow into the Northwest has helped calm fire conditions and clear lingering smoke, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.

Winds along the frontal boundary of a cold front moving into the area could push some big fires into new acreage, but the next week will see cooler temperatures and higher humidity, which should increase containment, Mr Guy said.

While there's no significant rain to speak of, the drought monitor in the West shows "miniscule" signs of improvement," Mr Guy said. "A little is better than none or worse. So the little bit of rain that was received did put a hair scratch (not a dent) in the West's drought."

Caldor Fire burns more than 500 structures, threatens thousands more

The Caldor Fire destroyed 557 structures as of yesterday and threatened another 17,488, fire officials said. More than 1,600 firefighters are assigned to it.

Parts of El Dorado County are under evacuation orders or warnings. An evacuation warning is also in place in parts of neighboring Amador County.

"This year what we're seeing more than ever is a set of fuel conditions that many of our professionals that have spent their whole careers fighting fire have never seen before," El Dorado National Forest Supervisor Jeff Marsolais said in a community briefing Saturday evening.

"The system is as taxed as it has ever been," he said of firefighting resources. "And our folks on the ground are doing everything they can within their power."

The Caldor Fire was also cited as the reason two police officers from Galt, California, a small city south of Sacramento, were critically injured in a head-on collision while responding to the fire for traffic management, California's Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said.

Investigators don't yet know what caused the fire to start.

The Dixie Fire, the nation's largest active fire, has destroyed more than 1,200 structures and threaten another 12,000.

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Evacuation warnings are in place in portions of Plumas, Butte and Lassen counties, according to Cal Fire. In Tehama County, evacuation orders were downgraded yesterday to warnings and warnings in three areas were lifted.

"Fire remained active until after midnight. Smoke settled back over the fire in the early morning hours, reducing fire activity," Cal Fire said in yesterday's update on the fire.

"Cooler weather and increasing humidity slowed rates of spread, with isolated torching still observed. Smoke settled back over the fire in the early morning hours. A much quieter weather patterns is shaping up for most of this week," the update said.

Face masks are likely to remain a public health requirement across swathes of Australia as we approach spring – A.K.A. the dreaded "swooping season" – and there have been fears that magpies might be provoked by more "anonymous" people near their nests.

Magpies are intelligent enough to remember a number of faces and nesting magpies have been known to tolerate familiar people in "their" neighbourhood.

Nine.com.au reached out to magpie expert Professor Emeritus Darryl Jones of Griffith University to check if spring would see a swooping surge.

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He said that people wearing masks outside on their street would "probably" be more likely to provoke a swoop by a nervous magpie, but that "probably" came with some significant caveats.

"Only in situations where the magpies know all the people in their small territory (a max of about 30 individuals) and they have – for whatever reason – started attacking some known individual," he said.

"In this case, if everyone is wearing a mask, they won't be able to tell them apart and may think it's best to have a go at everyone just in case."

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Professor Emeritus Jones said while it was never going to be a huge problem for lots of people, it could be "serious" in specific locations.

"But given (magpies') proven ability to tell people apart by facial features, the idea of wearing an individualised mask – rather than the generic blue/white/black version – could be the shot," he said.

"The birds are definitely capable of this level of intelligence."

Nine.com.au also asked whether fluctuating numbers on the streets as communities move in and out of lockdown could cause magpies who had set up a nest somewhere they thought was quiet, to become agitated.

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"This may be an issue in some of the places where large numbers of people may congregate such as certain parks or walking areas, but I don't think the big fluctuations in numbers is going to be a reason for more attacks," Professor Emeritus Jones said.

Only about 10 percent of magpies are swoopers, and then only when protecting their nest.

Often a magpie who swoops will have had a bad experience with a person – whether or not that person knows it.

The majority of attacks are on cyclists, with magpies particularly alert to the speed and size of the contraption.

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Experts have advised that if riding a bike through a known swooping area, it might be best to get off and walk it more slowly.

However, it is best to avoid areas where magpies are known to be nesting.

Professor Emeritus Jones previously told nine.com.au the best thing to do during an unexpected magpie attack.

If this happens, he advised people do something that will likely go against their instincts – turn and face the magpie.

"Magpies only attack from behind. So, if, you get swooped, face the bird. It sounds crazy and dangerous, but it's not, it's the best thing to do," he said.

"Most people just try to run the hell out of there. But it's best to stop, look at the bird, then continue walking away from wherever the bird swooped, that's really important."

Other traditional methods, such wearing a helmet or holding a stick or an umbrella over your head, were also effective, Professor Emeritus Jones said.

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Two Westpac Bank subsidiaries have been ordered to pay a $10.5 million fine by the Federal Court after they were found to have given customers financial advice when they were not licensed to do so.

Westpac Securities Administration Limited (Westpac Securities) and BT Funds Management Limited (BT Funds) were ordered to pay the combined fine over sales calls made to 14 consumers.

Both subsidiaries breached their "best interests duty" when they conducted a sales campaign that was aimed at rolling customers from their existing superannuation accounts into Westpac superannuation products.

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"In doing this, Westpac failed to act in the best interests of their customers," said the Australian Securities and Investments Commissioner Danielle Press.

"Consumers decisions about their superannuation are significant long-term financial decisions affecting their retirement income.

"Financial institutions seeking to influence those decisions by providing financial product advice, must comply with the law designed to protect consumers."

READ MORE: ASIC takes Westpac to court over credit insurance

In a statement, Westpac acknowledged the penalty and said the cost of the fine was fully provisioned by the bank in its First Half 2021 accounts.

"Westpac acknowledges today's total civil penalty of $10.5 million handed down by the Federal Court of Australia in relation to proceedings brought by ASIC about the provision of financial product advice," Westpac said in a statement.

"This penalty relates to the proceedings brought by ASIC in 2016 against Westpac Securities Administration Limited and BT Funds Management Limited, where "personal advice" was found to have been provided in relation to calls to 14 customers concerning the rollover of their external superannuation accounts in breach of certain provisions of the Corporations Act."