PA's husband : 'I had no idea'

The husband of a City secretary accused of stealing £4.4 million from her bosses today told a court she had persuaded him that their sudden wealth had come from £50,000 a week she was making on currency trading.

Anthony De-Laurey, 50, who is charged with money laundering, said he had been "proud and amazed" of his wife Joyti for pulling off such lucrative deals while working as a PA at Goldman Sachs.

De-Laurey, his wife, and mother-inlaw are all charged with profiting from Joyti's plundering of her bosses' personal bank accounts to fund her " lavish lifestyle".

The chauffeur claimed he had no idea his wife had taken the money and assumed she was "climbing the ladder" at work.

He told Southwark Crown Court that she ran the family finances and he trusted her implicitly, even when she began splashing out on foreign trips, jewellery and a holiday home.

"She seemed to be getting a pay rise here, bonuses there, and she seemed to be doing well. By this time she was trading on the stock exchange, she had some investments. I was told when Goldman Sachs went public the staff got shares," he said.

"She used to try to explain to me she had done a deal and got X amount for changing currency or whatever. Once she told me she had done 50,000 in a week. I felt proud of her that somebody could do something like that. I was amazed you could do that, I had no idea you could do things like that."

He said he had no idea that his wife had set up bank accounts in his name in Cyprus into which she paid thousands of pounds .

Earlier, the court was told that the couple were planning to move to Cyprus with their young son and Joyti, 35, had bought a £750,000 villa. A £140,000 motor boat was on order.

The jury also heard that she had given her husband three motorbikes as well as helicopter flying lessons and several Cartier watches. The pair also allegedly went on a series of expensive holidays to New York, Beverly Hills and Disneyland Paris.

But De-Laurey said: "Because of the extent of travel by the executives at Goldman Sachs my wife had built up a rapport with the travel company and was going to be able to get us cheap tickets." He is also accused of using the

proceeds of crime - he is said to have bought a Saab convertible, a Golf for his son from his first marriage, and a Chrysler Grand Voyager for his mother-in-law.

Joyti De-Laurey, of Cheam, denies 20 counts of deception claiming she was allowed to take the money from three senior bankers at the firm because of her loyalty and discretion in relation to their business and private lives.

Anthony De-Laurey denies five counts of money laundering and two of using the proceeds of crime. Joyti's mother, Dr Devi Schahhou, a 68-yearold GP from Hampstead, also denies five counts of money laundering. Joyti De-Laurey is accused of forging her bosses' signatures on personal cheques and sending bogus money transfers between 2000 and 2002.

She had been the personal assistant of Goldman Sachs's managing directors Jennifer Moses and her husband Ron Beller. When they left she was recommended to their successor, multi-millionaire banker Scott Mead.

Last week she told the court her bosses had given her permission to take the money as perks for her hard work.

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