Goldman Sachs PA 'was motivated by honest greed'

A city secretary accused of stealing millions of pounds from her bosses at a merchant bank was motivated by "honest greed" rather than theft or deception, Southwark Crown Court was told yesterday.

A city secretary accused of stealing millions of pounds from her bosses at a merchant bank was motivated by "honest greed" rather than theft or deception, Southwark Crown Court was told yesterday.

Giving evidence on the opening day of her defence, Joyti De-Laurey told the court that three former managing directors at Goldman Sachs gave her the money because they were grateful for her help in running their lives, which included organising personal shopping trips and covering up an affair.

Jeremy Dein, QC, her barrister said: "The evidence will be that this was little more than honest greed, not theft or deception." He said the sums involved amounted to little more than "pocket money" to her wealthy bosses.

Asked by Mr Dein what she believed the payments from one of the three - Ron Beller - were for, Ms De-Laurey replied: "This was more because of what I was prepared to do ... a reward for me being me." She added: "Ron made it clear that neither [he nor his wife, also a former managing director] could live without me and I was necessary for the daily running of their lives."

Ms De-Laurey told the court that Mr Beller had allowed her to forge his signature on cheques. She said: "He said he would always look after me financially, that what was his was mine and that I would never have to worry about money while I worked for him." Asked whether Mr Beller was aware of these transactions, she said: "He knew I was forging signatures."

She said she thought that many other PAs also forged the signatures of their bosses.

Mr Beller and his wife, Jennifer Moses, both former managing directors of Goldman Sachs, claim their former secretary stole £1.1m from them. She is also alleged to have taken more than £3m from their successor, Edward Scott Mead.

Ms De-Laurey, 35, from North Cheam, Surrey, denies 20 charges of obtaining money transfers by deception and using "false instruments" between 15 February 2001 and 26 April 2002. She was acquitted on the directions of Judge Christopher Elwen of one of the counts, involving £4,000, at the beginning of yesterday's hearing.

Her husband, Anthony, 50, a former chauffeur, and her mother, Dr Devi Schahhou, 67, a general practitioner from Hampstead, north-west London, both plead not guilty to associated money-laundering charges. Ms De-Laurey is said to have spent the money on a £300,000 Cartier collection as well as properties in Britain and abroad, including a £750,000 seafront villa in Cyprus and a £150,000 speedboat.

Ms De-Laurey said she did not believe that Ms Moses, whom she described as a volatile character, was aware of the payments. She said her job increasingly became about arranging personal appointments for Ms Moses, such as visits to the beautician or her personal shoppers.

The court has heard that Ms De-Laurey told her company she had terminal cancer, but she admitted yesterday that she had not been ill when she took sick leave for three weeks in the summer of 2001. She claimed this was made up because she did not want to admit to suffering from stress.

Before Ms De Laurey began her evidence, Mr Dein told the court that Mr Beller and Ms Moses had regarded what their secretary had been doing as "honest, acceptable and indeed welcome" and the money she had received from Mr Mead had been in return for "lying" to his wife to conceal his affair. "Ms De-Laurey stood between Mr Mead and the potential collapse of his marriage, his reputation, his job and perhaps his millions," he said. Mr Dein said his client was now the victim of a "cover-up".

The case continues.