A top London lawyer who conned millions from the bank that employed her to help a friend's ailing Indonesian airline has been ordered to repay more than £2 million.

Kate Johns, the former deputy head of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's legal department, was jailed for five years earlier this year (DC World News,10 February2010).

Cajoled colleagues

Johns was found guilty of receiving payments of £1.95 million for arranging letters of credit (L/Cs) that were used to prop up Air Efata.

She repeatedlypersuaded colleagues to ignore procedures, and the bank finished up approvingL/Cs totalling more than £7 million.

L/C offences

Johns was found guilty of a total of 12 offences committed during 2006.

Five of the offences related to L/Cs used to obtain US$10.9 million of money transfers by deception.

Airline failure

Johns has been given six months to repay the £2 million and could face up to ten years in jail if she fails to pay.

Despite Johns' efforts, Air Efata ultimately collapsed and its founder, Frank Taira-Supit, later hanged himself.

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