Gambling addict who worked for Morgan Stanley 'strangled his wife in anger' Manas Kapoor, a product controller, feared he would be sacked Prosecutors claim he killed the 35-year-old at their home in Middlesex Admitted he was £8,000 in debt and was borrowing from friends and family A gambling addict who worked for Morgan Stanley strangled his wife in a fit of rage on the day he was to attend a disciplinary meeting after losing the bank millions of pounds, a court heard. Manas Kapoor, 35, who worked as a product controller, feared he would be sacked after an accounting error cost the bank millions of pounds so asked wife Shivani to accompany him for moral support, jurors were told. But on July 10 last year prosecutors claim he killed the 35-year-old at their home in Northwood, Middlesex, then tried to cover it up by saying she fell off a stool. She died in hospital two days later. 'Fit of rage': It is claimed Manas Kapoor (left) strangled his wife, Shivani (right), in a fit of rage on the day of a meeting about his job. She had discovered her husband had blown thousands on gambling websites In the months leading up to her death Shivani, who has a one-year-old daughter Vania with Kapoor, discovered her husband had been blowing thousands on gambling websites. He admitted he was £8,000 in debt and had been borrowing from friends and family to pay it off. Then three days before she died, she noticed jewellery including four bangles, a chain and a gold coin, as well as £1,500 cash had gone missing. When Shivani confronted her husband he denied taking it but became "very aggressive and defensive," it was said. The day before she was murdered Shivani told a friend she was considering calling the police and had thought of leaving Kapoor, but wanted to keep the family together for the sake of their daughter. Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told Wood Green Crown Court: 'At 1.17pm on 10 July 2013, a call was made to the emergency services from their home address by the defendant. He said he had found his wife unconscious on the bedroom floor and thought she had fallen off a stool and hit her head and did not appear to be breathing. The emergency operator talked the defendant thought CPR techniques until paramedics arrived at 1.32pm. She was lying on the floor next to a plastic stool and the defendant surmised she had fallen from it when standing on it to get something from the wardrobe and struck her head on the cot. In police interview Kapoor claimed his wife suffered from blackouts which could have explained the fall. But those close to the victim said the only time she had ever fainted was when she missed a meal shortly after giving birth to her daughter. When paramedics arrived they spotted a red mark across Shivani's neck "like a ligature mark." Kapoor also had fresh scratches on his face. Further injuries were discovered on Shivani's body during a post-mortem two days later. These included bruising on her back, elbows and shoulders, consistent with being pinned against a wall or floor, deep bruising around her nose suggesting a hand had been put over her face, and her neck had been compressed so hard it had bruised her spine. Mr Atkinson said: 'If Shivani's death had been the result of an accidental fall, it was a remarkable coincidence that the defendant should have suffered fresh scratches to his face, consistent with Shivani, as she was being strangled, flaying out and scratching her assailant. Moreover, if Shivani had simply fallen from a stool, her timing was remarkable. By coincidence she fell on the day that the defendant was due to attend an important meeting at work to address his future at Morgan Stanley, where he had worked for five to six years, and was in difficulties both because he had been on long term sick from the previous January and because of a serious accounting error for which he was being held responsible. Mr Kapoor feared he would lose his job at Morgan Stanley but a court heard he may not have done There was a real risk he was about to lose his job and this impending disaster had been causing him considerable stress and anxiety. By his own admission he was in debt to the sum of £8,000 as a result of his gambling and these debts had been a source of discord between himself and his wife. 'And in the days preceding her death Shivani had been complaining to friends and family about the defendant's debts and that items of jewellery and money had been going missing. 'In short, the circumstances were ripe for the defendant to have lashed out in temper and to have compressed his wife's neck, causing her death. Such timing, when put together with the pathological findings, point to Shivani's death being murder.' Kapoor may not have lost his job, a court heard. In a statement Chloe Charlton, a HR manager at Morgan Stanley, said problems began with Kapoor when he failed to turn up for work one day in January 2013. She said: 'A colleague made contact with his wife who said she thought he was at work. I later heard he had been travelling around on trains in London all day and had not got off to come to the office. After that Kapoor, who earned £45,000 a year, was put on long term sick leave and referred to occupational health due to stress. The court heard during one of his meetings with a doctor Kapoor was annoyed because he found out a junior colleague was getting paid more than him. Then in February 2013 an accounting error was spotted in his workload dating back to 2010. Miss Charlton said: 'It involved millions of dollars. There was no financial benefit to him but he had tried to cover it up. She said she called Kapoor on the day of the meeting when he failed to arrive. He answered the phone and he was crying. He said his wife was not breathing. I said "don't worry about the meeting, be with your wife." And he said "thank you Chloe." The HR manager added that 'no decision had been made' as to Kapoor's future within the company at that point. Prosecutors claim Manas Kapoor killed her at their home in Northwood, Middlesex, then tried to cover it up Wood Green Crown Court heard Kapoor wed Shivani in an arranged marriage in their native New Delhi in 2003. Jurors heard Shivani moved over first in 2005 to do a postgraduate degree in autism at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, and Kapoor followed in 2006. In late 2007 he secured a job at Morgan Stanley. A year later Shivani got a job as an occupational therapist at Northwick Park Hospital in London but Kapoor remained in Glasgow until he got a job transfer to the Morgan Stanley in Canary Wharf in 2009. Their daughter Vania was born in January 2012. But witnesses said Shivani was unhappy in her marriage and even more so when she found out Kapoor had been borrowing money from friends and family to pay off his debts. Her best friend Rajne Agarwal, who was 'like a sister to her' told the court the couple's relationship got worse after Vania was born. She said: 'She was very stressed in the relationship and she felt she had to look after the work situation, the house and the baby as well. Then when she found out about the money that was another burden. Miss Agarwal also revealed the pair had not been sexually intimate for a while and often slept in separate beds. But on the morning of the alleged killing Kapoor claims the pair had sex. An empty condom wrapper was later discovered in their bedroom. Shivani's mother Geeta Taneja, who gave evidence via videolink from India, said a month before her daughter died she went to stay with her as she felt she was in 'dire straits.' She broke down as she said: 'I'm happy that I was there for her when she needed me but that was to be the last time I would be with her.' Kapoor called the family in tears on July 10 to tell them what had happened but claimed 'I didn't do anything,' the court was told. The following day Mrs Taneja flew to London to be at her daughter's bedside. She said: 'I was numb emotionally. My daughter was lying on her death bed and there was no hope. All I could think and pray was for a miracle to happen. Kapoor denies murder and claims the scratches on his face came from his daughter who has long nails. The hearing continues.