Junchi Ma: Jury discharged after two jurors get Covid in CBA fraud trial

A jury has been discharged in the trial of a Sydney man whose ex-girlfriend siphoned millions from a Commonwealth Bank customer after two jurors tested positive to Covid.

A jury has been discharged in the trial of a Sydney man whose ex-girlfriend siphoned millions from a Commonwealth Bank customer after two jurors tested positive to Covid.

Junchi Ma, 31, of Pymble, had been on trial in the Downing Centre District Court after pleading not guilty to a raft of charges including dealing with the proceeds of crime intending to conceal.

The court heard Ma’s ex-girlfriend, Angie Tsai, took $2 million from an overseas customer while working as a teller for CBA in Sydney in 2015 and that he put down a deposit for a Ferrari around this time.

Junchi Ma says he thought Angie Tsai’s money came from her parents.

Angie Tsai (right) was working as a CBA teller when she unlawfully took millions from a customer who’d gone overseas.

But Ma’s defence barrister, Winston Terracini SC, had argued his client had nothing to do in any meaningful way with the misappropriation of that money and that the car had been bought with legitimate money.

Outside court, Mr Terracini confirmed the jury had been discharged on Thursday after a juror had tested positive to Covid on Wednesday night.

Two other jurors had already been let go earlier in the week.

This included one who had also contracted Covid and another whose father had caught the bug.

Ma‘s defence team is now preparing for a judge-alone application on Monday when they will push to have the trial judge return a verdict for him instead.

However, the court would go down this course only if Judge Craig Smith SC agrees to it.

Mr Terracini said the jury had only had a few hours together to deliberate on Ma’s case despite retiring days ago.

Junchi Ma (right) leaves the Downing Centre courts in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“They had only deliberated for less than three hours even though they’d been off and on out for about six days because of all of the Covid problems,” he said.

Before the jury had retired Judge Smith had directed it to acquit Ma of three of his charges after the court heard the evidence could not establish an essential ingredients of those counts.

The jury had also heard Tsai took $500,000 from a dead customer in 2014, but Ma was not charged over that money.

In his closing address last week Mr Terracini said both Ma and Tsai’s friend, Cecilia Wang, thought Tsai’s money came from her parents.

“It’s the very case that the accused has put before you, that he thought the large sums of money came from her parents – well, that’s what this wretched, evil, little vixen said to Cecilia Wang,” Mr Terracini said.

“If the accused was duped, well, it’s a matter for you and your experience of life – he wouldn’t be the first bloke or the first lady who’s been duped by their boyfriend or girlfriend and he won’t be the last.”