Nigella Lawson's assistants spent £685,000 on Charles Saatchi's credit cards, court hears Opening the case for the prosecution at Isleworth Crown Court in London, Jane Carpenter told a jury that whilst they had no doubt read reports about Miss Lawson's alleged drug-taking and her divorce from Mr Saatchi, "you may think they have little relevance" to a case which was really about "offences of fraud motivated by greed." Before the case for the prosecution was put the jury, Judge Robin Johnson told the five women and seven men to disregard anything they had read about Miss Lawson's alleged drug-taking, which he had allowed to be reported after lifting restrictions on the publication of pre-trial legal submissions. He said: "You would be 12 unusual people if you have not in the last couple of days heard about this case. But your decisions on the case will be based solely on the evidence you hear in this room. Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson photographed this week (FAME/FLYNET/INF) Miss Carpenter said: "This trial relates to the high life lived by Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, the sort of life you may often see portrayed in glossy magazines. But we say they did so not by their own endeavours but in a greedy and fraudulent free for all by abusing the trust of their employers in a four-year spending spree. She said that between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012, the sisters, once described by Miss Lawson as her "kitchen confidantes," used the credit cards which were paid off every month by Mr Saatchi's company Conarco. "They travelled the world, staying in top hotels, and spending exorbitant amounts of money on designer clothes," said Miss Carpenter. She said that the "temptation to buy high value goods for their own benefit was too great," adding: "You may think it must be a dishonest employee's dream to have a company credit card that is always accepted." She said Francesca spent £580,000 without authorisation and Elisabetta, 41, spent £105,000. Francesca was paid a salary of £28,000 and her sister received £25,000. Both lived rent-free in properties owned by Miss Lawson. Miss Carpenter said the sisters were likely to say in their defence that Miss Lawson's alleged drug use affected her attitude to their spending, but added: "It is preposterous to suggest that they would have allowed such a level of spending. Mr Saatchi said that it would mean that Francesa Grillo was paid more than the highest-paid employee in any of his businesses. The sisters' alleged fraud was discovered in June last year, because of an unauthorised hiring of a minicar, and because spending on the cards went up from £10-20,000 per month to around £50,000. They were confronted about the money and admitted spending it on themselves and agreed to pay it back, the court was told, but became "angry" when it was suggested they should work for reduced salaries to make up the shortfall. Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo both deny fraud.