Sydney man wanted Ferrari from Commonwealth Bank money, jury hears

A Sydney man whose girlfriend unlawfully withdrew millions from a CBA customer’s account wanted to buy a Ferrari, a jury has been told.

A Sydney man whose girlfriend unlawfully withdrew millions from a Commonwealth Bank customer’s account was keen on using some of the money to purchase a Ferrari, a jury has been told.

Junchi Ma, 31 is 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 was told Ma’s then partner, Angie Tsai, was working as a customer service specialist at CBA in September 2015 when she withdrew more than $2 million from the account of customer Julius Quan, who had gone overseas.

Junchi Ma enters the Downing Centre on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Tsai accessed Mr Quan’s customer profile 17 times while employed at the bank, the court heard.

In his opening address to the jury on Thursday, Crown prosecutor Michael Smith said Tsai would give evidence in her ex-boyfriend’s trial.

Mr Smith said he expected Tsai to tell the jury that Ma had wanted to use some of that money to buy a Ferrari.

“I do expect Ms Tsai to say that in the weeks leading up to the 3rd of September she did have discussions with the accused about how they would move the money … from Mr Quan’s account,” Mr Smith said.

“One of the catalysts for that discussion was Mr Ma’s desire to purchase a very expensive Ferrari.”

The court heard once the money had been taken from Mr Quan’s account it was moved overseas into an account in Asia before being moved back into an account in Australia.

Mr Smith said Ma put down a deposit for the car during this time.

“On the 15th of September, 2015, four days after the overseas transfer, the accused put a $10,000 deposit down and signed a contract for the purchase of a Ferrari,” Mr Smith said.

The jury was told Tsai had pleaded guilty to charges over what the Crown said was a joint criminal enterprise between her and Ma.

Mr Smith said the main debate in the trial would be about Ma’s knowledge of the movement of the money.

The court heard Mr Quan was in Australia in the 1990s when he opened the bank account.

He relocated to South Africa and over the years transferred money back into the CBA account.

As of September 2015 it had accumulated more than $2 million.

Ma’s defence barrister, Winston Terracini SC, will give his opening address to the jury on Friday.