Former National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn has told a Sydney court that a businesswoman accused of defrauding the bank of millions of dollars helped organise a meeting at a hotel with former NSW premier Mike Baird but was not involved in recruiting him to work at the bank.
Thorburn, who started at NAB in 2005 and was chief executive between August 2014 and February 2019, said he met businesswoman Helen Rosamond “well before I became CEO of the group … at a bank event”.
Former NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn outside the District Court in Sydney on Thursday.Credit:James Alcock
He told Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Thursday that Rosamond’s event management company Human Group had organised events for NAB, such as offsite meetings for its executive team.
The court heard Baird was recruited to work at NAB while Thorburn was chief executive, and the recruitment process was dubbed “Project Eagle”. Asked why it was given a codename, Thorburn replied: “I actually don’t know.”
He agreed it was “obviously a confidential process” and said that “in the case of Mike Baird … it had particular political and media significance”.
“I met him at the Langham Hotel in Sydney,” Thorburn said, adding the meeting was “a one-on-one”.
He said the meeting had been organised by his chief of staff, Rosemary Rogers, but she did not attend.
Asked who greeted him at the hotel, Thorburn said: “It was Helen Rosamond.”
Thorburn could not recall if he was expecting Rosamond. Asked if the businesswoman was involved in the recruitment of Baird for the role of chief customer officer in corporate and institutional banking, Thorburn replied: “She was not.”
Rosamond, 47, is standing trial in the NSW District Court on charges relating to her alleged role in defrauding NAB of $15 million. 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 Crown alleges Rosamond sent falsified and inflated invoices from Human Group to NAB between 2013 and 2017 and paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Thorburn’s then chief of staff, Rogers, to ensure they were paid.
The court has heard Rogers, who had worked for the bank since 1995 and had also been chief of staff to Thorburn’s predecessor Cameron Clyne, was authorised to approve payments of up to $20 million. Thorburn said he was not aware at the time that her financial delegation was set at that level.
In her opening address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Katrina Mackenzie alleged Rosamond had “nothing to do with Mr Baird’s recruitment” and had only been asked to book a hotel room for the meeting between Baird and Thorburn in January 2017.
Helen Rosamond leaving the NSW District Court in Sydney last week.Credit:Dean Sewell
The Crown alleges NAB subsequently paid a $2.2 million invoice after Rogers and Rosamond colluded to claim the money was needed to employ Baird.
Rogers has been prosecuted and jailed for her role in the NAB arrangement, the jury has been told, and she is expected to give evidence in the trial.
Thorburn said he had regarded Rogers as “competent and professional and efficient” and she “had a real knowledge of the bank”.
He said that on December 6, 2017, he became aware an “anonymous whistleblower letter” about Rogers had been sent to the bank because he received a call at home from the head of internal audit at NAB. They convened an urgent meeting at his home.
Former NSW premier Mike Baird. Credit:Natalie Boog
He said at first he “didn’t believe it” because Rogers had “always been very helpful” and was a “good worker” and very competent.
“I trusted her. She’d been an employee at the bank for 20 years,” he said.
The trial continues.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
