LONDON (Reuters) - One of Britain’s most high-profile hedge fund managers and political donors “lunged” at a 26-year-old female bank employee in 1998 and indecently assaulted her, a prosecutor told a London court on Wednesday. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was “shocked and scared”, wrestled herself free and left, Hendon Magistrates’ Court was told on the first day of the trial. Odey, who watched proceedings from the glass-surrounded dock, will lay out his defence later. When Odey was interviewed about the alleged incident in 2019, the prosecutor said Odey accepted the woman was at his house and said she asked him: “Where is this going to end?” Odey responded, “...in bed hopefully,” Broome said. But Odey said the woman was appalled, that he realised he had misread the situation and that she then left. Slideshow ( 4 images ) Cross-examining the former banker over a video-link, Odey’s lawyer, Crispin Aylett, suggested Odey did not invite her on the day of her first meeting, but rang her the following day and asked her to come to his house. “I absolutely definitely did not go straight to his house in Chelsea,” she said. “I remember going to his office, walking to the pub and then getting into the taxi ... I could accept he called me the next day, but I absolutely do not accept that I went straight to his house,” she said. But she said she could not remember some details, including exactly when the alleged incident took place, whether she had taken her papers with her when she left, at what time she left or how long she spent outside his house afterwards. She reported the alleged incident to the police in 2017. Broome said victims do not always report such matters immediately. Odey stepped down from the helm of Odey Asset Management to focus on managing his own funds last year. Along with his wife, Nichola Pease, his estimated fortune stands at 825 million pounds ($1.14 billion), according to the Rich List 2020 compiled by The Times newspaper. The trial continues on Thursday, after which it will be held over until March 11 for a third day. ($1 = 0.7235 pounds)