Boss 'begged secretary to keep affair secret'

A top City secretary told a court today how her "powerful" boss begged her to still keep his affair secret even though she had just been accused of stealing millions of pounds from him.

Joyti De-Laurey, who insists she had been given the money after helping "cover up" his unfaithfulness, said the banker also told her his "possessive" wife was to blame for the dishonesty allegations she was facing.

He then promised her that if she "co-operated" by returning some of the cash, he could easily "rectify the situation".

"All I needed to do was to make a payment, to show willing, to pay back, to accept the allegations that I had taken the money, or stolen the money, in this case, then to come back in and sort his diary out for three days and then to quietly disappear."

She told London's Southwark Crown Court that although she was in a "very scary situation" she agreed to do as he asked.

After all, she maintained, he was a "very powerful" individual who had "connections" with both the White House and Downing Street and "could do anything he wanted, anything".

De-Laurey, 35, of London Road, North Cheam, Surrey, denies 20 charges of obtaining money transfers by deception and using "false instruments" between February 15, 2001 and April 26, 2002.

Her husband, Anthony, a 50-year-old former chauffeur, and her GP mother, Dr Devi Schahhou, 67, of King Henry's Road, Hampstead, north west London, each plead not guilty to associated money-laundering allegations.