'A greedy and fraudulent four-year free-for-all': Sisters accused of abusing Nigella and Saatchi's trust as jury is reminded that chef is NOT on trial over drug claims

• Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo 'blew £685,000 on company credit cards'
• Francesca tells court 'I haven't lied' and says her spending was authorised
• Sisters had recipe published in Nigella's latest cookbook
  
• Jury expected to retire to consider its verdict before the end of the week
• Prosecution says Grillos’ claim they were part of the family is ‘utter rubbish’
• Saatchi’s wealth ‘obviously does not mean he should be defrauded’
• Says Nigella made it ‘abundantly clear’ she had not approved ‘extraordinary’ level of spending
  

By Rob Cooper

PUBLISHED: 06:59 EST, 18 December 2013 | UPDATED: 08:09 EST, 18 December 2013

Two of Nigella Lawson former aides were today accused of embarking on a 'greedy and fraudulent free-for-all' after they allegedly swindled the chef and Charles Saatchi out of £685,000.

The jury at Isleworth Crown Court were warned it was not Nigella or her ex-husband who were on trial after her drug-taking and their acrimonious split was exposed during the three-week trial.

Instead the focus should be whether the sisters had 'acted dishonestly' and 'abused their positions.'

'I have not lied': Francesca Grillo today told a jury that all her credit card spending was authorised - and she denied being a fantasist

Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo are accused of 'abusing the generosity and trust' of the celebrity couple by using Mr Saatchi's company credit card to splash out on designer clothes and holidays.

It is alleged their greed grew bolder over the years when they thought they would not be found out.

Summing up her case on the final day of evidence, prosecutor Jane Carpenter said the Grillo sisters' claims they were allowed to spend the cash was 'rubbish'.

She said: 'On numerous occasions where the defendants could have simply said we were authorised to use the card.

'Why didn't they? How simple it would have been. Not once did they say that. Do you think it wasn't said because it wasn't true.

'The account given in court might be the last attempt to get away with the greedy and fraudulent free for all that lasted four years, abusing the trust and generosity of their employers.'

She had earlier reminded jurors that while Nigella had confessed in court to taking drugs including cocaine, it was not the chef who was on trial.

She said: 'There have been moments in this trial when it has appeared that there were other people on trial.

'People have been focused more on Miss Lawson or Mr Saatchi, but any detail relating to them is entirely secondary to the fraud.

'The vast majority of the expenditure was personal and for the benefit of the defendants.'

She said the defendants had 'acted dishonestly' and 'abused their positions' as trusted members of the home.

Accused: Francesca (right) is alleged to have spent £580,000 on the card, while her older sister Elisabetta (left) was estimated to be around £105,000

She added: 'The prosecution say they did time and time again, spending more as time passed and they grew bolder and greedier.

'The suggestion that their expenditure was authorised by Ms Lawson or Mr Saatchi is utter nonsense.

'Clearly, they had been using their Conarco cards for their own benefit for many years. Had they been scrutinised things might have come to attention earlier.'

'Just because Mr Saatchi is a very wealthy man, obviously, it does not mean that he should be defrauded by his staff, specifically Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo.

'But at times it has seemed that is what the defence has put forward.

'That because Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson spent huge amounts on wine, or dresses or whatever, it was just that the Grillos were part of the family they too were entitled to spend the same amount.

'That is utter rubbish and can't possible be the case.'

She said no one had seen Nigella taking drugs and both the chef and her ex-husband Mr Saatchi had denied their infamous row outside Scott's restaurant, in Mayfair, was because of drugs.

She said: 'Mr Saatchi made it quite clear he has never seen Miss Lawson taking drugs, for that matter nobody else in this trial has.'

She said the art mogul 'regrets' sending the now infamous email in which he accused Nigella of being 'so off her head on drugs' she let the Grillo sisters spend whatever they wanted.

Mr Saatchi 'says he was being particularly nasty at a time when she was upset', she added.

She said Nigella's 'admission' that she had taken cocaine and smoked cannabis 'has little bearing in this fraud case'.

'Fantasist': Nigella Lawson accused Francesca of being a 'fantasist' when she gave evidence to the jury at Isleworth Crown Court

She said: 'The incident outside Scotts restaurant had nothing to do with drugs, that was confirmed by Mr Saatchi.

'For Elisabetta Grillo to suggest that it did is nothing more than speculation. That might show how effectively she is able to lie to you.'

Finishing her evidence in the witness stand earlier, Francesca had denied lying about seeing rolled up bank notes laced with cocaine in the celebrity chef's home.

The 35-year-old had previously told jurors at her fraud trial that she found the incriminating notes scattered around her Belgravia home and in her handbag.

Taking to the witness stand for the third day in the same black and white polka dot dress and black cardigan she has worn all week, Francesca denied claims she was a 'fantasist.'

Accusing Francesca of lying, Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, said: 'I suggest you lied about seeing the rolled up notes and seeing that they had white powder on them'

But the Italian 35 year-old replied: 'No I did not'.

Ms Carpenter went on to ask her: 'Do you think you are a fantasist as Ms Lawson suggested?'

Francesca replied: 'I don't think I'm a fantasist as Ms Lawson suggested.'

The seven men and five women on the jury were shown pages from Miss Lawson's latest cookbook, Nigellissima, which contained a lasagne recipe the Grillos provided.

'She refers to two friends from Calabria, or two sisters,' added Grillo.

She claimed that during her trips to her native Italy while employed by the family, she would use the company credit card to buy food items and props for Miss Lawson which were used in the book.

The prosecutor had earlier accused Francesca of thinking she was 'onto a good thing' when she was given a credit card and using it to splash out lavish spending.

Ms Carpenter said: 'You thought you were onto a good thing living the life of a wealthy person.'

But former assistant insisted she didn't, saying: 'I didn't have to think I was part of a good thing, I was part of a good thing.

'They were my family, I was very very happy. They loved me and they loved me back.

'Despite, I am defending myself from them, my family, I still have feelings for them.'

The Grillo sisters, from Bayswater, west London, both deny a count of fraud.

Francesca is alleged to have spent £580,000 on the card, while her older sister's total spend was estimated to be around £105,000.

The trial continues.