Secretary guilty of £4.3m fraud

A TOP City secretary in London was facing jail yesterday after being convicted of "plundering" more than £4 million from her bosses' bank accounts.

Joyti De-Laurey, an "unsurpassed liar" driven by "greed and jealousy", used the cash to mimic the lifestyle of her superiors, buying luxury cars, designer clothes and numerous homes.

The 35-year-old, whose husband and mother helped to launder her ill-gotten gains, carried out her carefully calculated "betrayal" behind a smokescreen of her own efficiency and the extensive sympathy "milked" from her imaginary cancer.

The mother-of-one first targeted Jennifer Moses and her husband, Ron Beller, both managing directors at blue chip investment bank Goldman Sachs.

After siphoning more than £1.1m from their New York investment accounts, she turned her sights on their much wealthier successor, Edward Scott Mead, then a partner in the global giant.

On learning of the verdict yesterday, Mr Mead branded De-Laurey "a liar and a thief", claiming her defence was "a ludicrous and malicious fantasy from start to finish".

The jury, sitting at Southwark Crown Court in London, had been deliberating on their verdicts since last Wednesday afternoon.

De-Laurey was convicted of 20 counts of fraud. She was convicted of four counts of using a false instrument and 16 counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception.

The total amount of money raised by De-Laurey's fraudulent transactions amounted to £4,303,259.

The defendant showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out one by one. Dressed in a black jacket and trousers, the PA occasionally glanced at the jury and spent most of the time looking at the floor.

De-Laurey's husband Anthony, a 50-year-old former chauffeur, faced eight counts of money laundering charges. He was convicted of four charges and acquitted of a further four.

De-Laurey's GP mother, Dr Devi Schahhou, 68, of King Henry's Road, Hampstead, north west London, faced five similar allegations. She was convicted on four counts and acquitted on one count.

During the four-month trial, the jury heard that Mr Mead regarded the PA as "the best I have ever had".

But his trust in her cost him nearly £3.4m and ultimately forced him to confess an extramarital affair with a woman lawyer.

After nearly two years forging signatures on cheques and money transfers, De-Laurey was "phenomenally wealthy".

The court heard most of the money was wired to Cyprus, where she hoped to start a new life with more than £1m in the bank and a £750,000 seafront villa.

Privately-educated De-Laurey, of London Road, North Cheam, Surrey, had claimed her American bosses allowed her to milk their millions as a reward for her efficiency and for helping Mr Mead keep his infidelity a secret.

To her colleagues and employers, she was the epitome of efficiency a "very competent employee, highly regarded, very good at her job ... who came to enjoy an absolute and complete level of trust".

But behind the woman with the "can do" attitude lurked a "very clever con artist" whose "unsurpassed lying" and ability as a forger paved the way to "phenomenal wealth".

In the background were her husband and mother, both of whom had bank accounts in Cyprus which were used as "channels" for some of the stolen money.

The court heard that within months of starting work for Mrs Moses at £28,000-a-year plus bonuses, De-Laurey was proving indispensable on both business and personal fronts.

She made out cheques for her bosses to sign and paid their many bills, made personal shopping appointments for Mrs Moses and arranged holidays.

Added to her undoubted efficiency was the sympathy she got from claiming she had cancer. De-Laurey forged Mr Beller's signature on scores of cheques as well as siphoning off huge amounts from the couple's savings.

The lies continued when De-Laurey tearfully pretended she had an "unfaithful" husband and needed a new home. This led her employers to give her a £40,000 interest-free loan.

The bankers thought so much of De-Laurey that when she claimed returning cervical cancer meant a hysterectomy, they offered first-class flights to America and private treatment by a leading expert.

After De-Laurey's employers left Goldman Sachs, she began to work for Mr Mead. The father-of-five said he too found her "energetic, positive and can-do". Only later did he realise the "Picasso of conmen" had lied to him from the word go. The banker said his son's earlier leukaemia left him "particularly sensitive and vulnerable" to her apparent plight.

De-Laurey's husband and mother were both granted bail until sentencing. The three defendants will be sentenced on June 14.

Ill-gotten gains

£1.1 million one of a string of bank accounts in Cyprus in her maiden name Schahhou.

£750,000 plush Villa Almas, near Paphos in Cyprus, which included a swimming pool and came with a new Range Rover in the garage.

£500,000 furnishings for villa.£400,000 diamond-encrusted Cartier jewellery.

£186,000 amount of jewellery given away.

£175,000 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish ordered for her husband's birthday. She paid a

£5,000 deposit but was arrested before she could keep a factory appointment to give builders his leg measurements and trim preferences.

£160,000 for home opposite hers for her mother-in-law.

£150,000 for Jeanneau Prestige 36 boat. She paid a 50% deposit for the 30-knot, diesel-driven four-berther. Had she remained free, the balance would have followed delivery in Cyprus.

£137,000 on necklaces, rings and more watches from London's top jewellers found unwrapped.

£135,000 for a place for stepson Mark.

£85,000 a two-storey maisonette nearby.

£52,000 to pay off her mother's mortgage.

£50,000 two jewellery orders still being processed while she was in Holloway Prison.

£50,000 Wimbledon hospitality bill. Two Honda Gold Wing motorbikes and a vintage Harley Davidson for her husband. Gold Cartier watch for husband Anthony De-Laurey.

£45,000 cash gifts for woman friend.

£20,000 donations to charity.

£10,000 friend's medical bill.

£4,000 to a local football club.

£1,500 Cartier bracelet, a holiday in Cyprus, and £700 sailing lessons.

9 number of property interests in Britain.