Two assistants to Charles Saatchi and his ex-wife Nigella Lawson complained they were "treated worse than Filipino slaves" when confronted over their alleged spending sprees on the couple's credit cards, a court has heard.
The finance director for wealthy art dealer Mr. Saatchi, told jurors that Elisabetta Grillo (41) made the claim after he wrote to her and her sister about their alleged use of the celebrity couple's credit cards to buy €823,438 of luxury goods for themselves.
Rahul Gajjar told jurors that at first Elisabetta, referred to in court as Lisa, and co-defendant Francesca, (35) were open and apologetic about their spending spree.
But he said that after he wrote them each a letter outlining how the sisters would pay off their debt which they were expected to sign, they became "agitated".
"Lisa was against the proposal and I remember a reference to 'We're being treated worse than Filipino slaves'," Mr. Gajjar, (44) told jurors at Isleworth Crown Court in west London.
Meanwhile the court earlier heard that the monthly average amount Miss Lawson spent on her credit card was €8,413.
'Transactions on behalf of her employers'
The court heard that Francesca ran up a €76,925 bill in June last year as she went on luxury holidays and bought designer clothes. Mr. Gajjar told jurors that the defendant made dozens of payments for personal use.
Her expenditure included over €5,649 on flights to New York, where she spent €2,223 at high-end fashion store Miu Miu and over €2,403 on hotels.
She also used the card to pay a €1,538 bill at the Ritz Hotel in Paris on the same day she bought a Chloe dress for €868.
Mr. Gajjar told the court he met the sisters at the Saatchi family home off the King's Road, west London, on July 3rd last year to examine their credit card statements.
He said Francesca explained that some of the transactions were for payments on behalf of her employers, some she was not sure of and others were personal.
"She admitted that they were for her own use, her personal expenditure, which she was slightly apologetic about and vowed to reimburse the company or Charles," Mr. Gajjar said.
Events in the court case may derail the celebrity chef's latest success - a hit US TV show. The court heard ahead of the fraud trial that her ex-husband made allegations about her serious drug habit.
Some US media outlets have speculated Lawson could fall foul of the country's tough visa regulations. The next series of ABC's 'The Taste', which she co-hosts with three other chefs, has already been filmed and is scheduled to return in January.
US rules mean someone can be denied a visa if they have "not been convicted" or even "not admitted" a drugs offence. A failure to get a visa would stop Lawson publicising the show in the US and throw her role on any future shows into doubt.
