A shop assistant has been accused of lying in a police statement after she was tied to a chair during a $2.8 million jewellery heist.
Michel Germani is on trial over staging the robbery at his high-end jewellery store in January 2023, having owed more than $184,000 in rent to Sydney's Hilton Hotel.
The 67-year-old formed a plan with an associate to regain some funds before the store was shuttered.
Mounir Helou, 59, and Andrea David Cusumano, 59, are accused of being in on the scheme.
Helou went to the store with another man, Shanel Tofaeono, on January 19 and claimed they wanted to examine a $150,000 tennis necklace, the court has been told.
During the 11-minute robbery, Germani and his shop attendant Lana Al-Khoury were "manhandled" and had their hands and legs bound with cable ties.
A key issue in the trial is whether Ms Al-Khoury knew the robbery was staged.
Ms Al-Khoury broke down in tears in the witness box at the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday.
Germani's barrister Matthew Kalyk argued the shop assistant lied during cross examination.
Ms Al-Khoury has been receiving weekly workers' compensation payments of about $2600 in since 2023, amounting to $130,000 per year, Mr Kalyk told the jury.
The shop assistant confirmed she had been receiving compensation because she was unable to work after the incident, but could not recall the exact amount.
Ms Al-Khoury attended a psychiatrist appointment in January required for a second insurance claim amounting to more than $200,000, Mr Kalyk said.
Mr Kalyk said the shop assistant told the psychiatrist she had been hit in the mouth during the incident and screamed in pain when one of the robbers' put an arm behind her neck.
But Ms Al-Khoury, whose second language in English, denied the claim.
"I didn't say these words to him (the psychiatrist)," she told the jury.
"I didn't say this because it didn't happen."
Ms Al-Khoury said she did not scream until after the robbers, who she referred to as the chubby man and tall man, had left.
During the trial, the chubby man was revealed as Helou and the tall man as Tofaeono.
Neither man hit her, she told the jury.
"All I thought at the time when he came closer to me was that I'm going to get raped," she said on Tuesday.
Mr Kalyk argued this was untrue because she did not mention it in her police statement.
"I didn't probably, because I was frightened at the time," Ms Al-Khoury replied.
"Being a woman, that is the first thing that is going to come to my mind."
Helou has admitted staging the robbery but denies a more serious charge of aggravated robbery against Ms Al-Khoury.
Helou and Tofaeono are not accused of rape.
Germani has pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated robbery and one count of detaining without consent, but has admitted staging the robbery to gain financially through the attempted insurance claim.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
