By Michaela Whitbourn
A Sydney businesswoman accused of defrauding the National Australia Bank of millions of dollars told a senior bank staffer in an intercepted call that her phone may be tapped before using the phrase “story, story, story”, a court has heard.
Rosemary Rogers, who was chief of staff to the bank’s chief executive from 2009 to 2017, has told the NSW District Court trial of businesswoman Helen Rosamond that she approved inflated invoices from Rosamond’s event management company Human Group to NAB as part of a fraudulent scheme.
Rogers gave evidence on Wednesday about intercepted phone calls between the pair, starting on April 10, 2018, after Rosamond’s Potts Point home was raided by police.
Rosemary Rogers arriving at court in January, 2021. Credit: Nick Moir
Rosamond said in the first call that she had cooperated with police and told them: “I’ve got nothing to hide; take everything you need.”
“The issue I have is my reputation now,” Rosamond said. Rosamond said they should continue with their plans to have lunch in the coming days because “they haven’t arrested me” and she didn’t think they would be followed.
“Should you be talking on your phone?” Rogers asked.
“I don’t know,” Rosamond replied, adding that her partner had suggested her phone may have been tapped “for a month or so”.
Rogers told the court she was “in a complete state of shock and panic” at the time of the call, in which she asked Rosamond: “What the f--- are we going to do?”
Asked why Rosamond said in the call “it’s all just so false”, Rogers said she assumed Rosamond “was in the same state of mind as me” and was panicking.
“We had suspicions that maybe the phones were being listened to,” Rogers said when asked why the pair avoided naming a place to meet for lunch.
Rosamond told Rogers during the call: “We just, story, story, story, you know, we um, keep strong”.
Rogers told the court she did not know “the exact meaning behind that” but believed it referred to a “story that we were setting up” about a loan.
In a subsequent call on April 11, Rosamond assured Rogers that “they’ve got nothing”. Rogers told the court that she believed this was “just Helen trying to provide comfort” about the investigation.
The court has previously heard Rosamond’s company Human Group organised a series of events for NAB including retreats for the bank’s executive leadership team. Rogers was authorised to approve payments of up to $20 million.
The court has heard allegations Human Group’s invoices to NAB covered Rosamond’s personal expenses, including $228,747 for an interior designer to furnish her Potts Point terrace, as well as gifts for Rogers.
The former NAB staffer has given evidence she received a house deposit, a BMW, a boat, overseas holidays and trips to the luxury Wolgan Valley resort in NSW, among other gifts, and she understood NAB ultimately picked up the tab for those expenses.
Helen Rosamond outside the District Court in Sydney on Wednesday.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Earlier on Wednesday, Rogers gave evidence she told Rosamond at one stage that she was having “cash flow issues” and Rosamond subsequently organised a sum of cash for her.
Asked where she received the cash, Rogers said: “From memory, and it is a bit sketchy ... she gave it to me over a lunch, I think.”
“I think it was just in an envelope,” she said.
Rosamond, 47, is standing trial on charges relating to her alleged role in defrauding NAB of millions between 2013 and 2017. She has pleaded not guilty to 60 counts of giving a corrupt benefit and 32 counts of dishonestly obtaining, or attempting to dishonestly obtain, a financial advantage by deception. The jury has been told the charges total $15 million.
The jury has previously heard Rogers received a prison sentence in 2020 after pleading guilty to 27 counts of corruptly receiving a benefit from Rosamond and five of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Rogers, who was arrested in March 2019, received a discounted sentence in December 2020 in light of her early guilty plea and her agreement to give evidence.
“I guess it brought a bit of closure,” Rogers said of her sentence.
The trial continues.
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