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Married boss of bailed-out bank enjoys business trip hotel trysts with secret mistress who is ex-Blair adviser

Lloyds Bank CEO Antonio Horta-Osario racked up nearly £4,000 in hotel bills while meeting his lover Dr Wendy Piatt in Singapore

THE married boss of state-owned Lloyds Bank met his secret mistress for a tryst at a luxury hotel after jetting to the Far East on company business.

Antonio Horta-Osorio spent several days enjoying trips and cosy dinner dates at top restaurants with blonde Dr Wendy Piatt ahead of a global banking conference in Singapore.

 Married Lloyds Bank CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio enjoyed trips and dinner dates with Dr Wendy Piatt on a business trip in Singapore
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Married Lloyds Bank CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio enjoyed trips and dinner dates with Dr Wendy Piatt on a business trip in SingaporeCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 Dr Piatt, a former special adviser to Tony Blair, was seen entering and leaving Horta-Osorio’s hotel room on several occasions
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Dr Piatt, a former special adviser to Tony Blair, was seen entering and leaving Horta-Osorio’s hotel room on several occasionsCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
 Horta-Osorio has been married to wife Ana for 25 years and the couple have three grown-up children
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Horta-Osorio has been married to wife Ana for 25 years and the couple have three grown-up childrenCredit: Getty Images - WireImage

The chief executive of the bailed-out bank, who in 2014 earned £11.5million, stayed at the five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel where his room cost £350 per night.

Witnesses claimed they saw Dr Piatt, a former special adviser to Tony Blair, entering and leaving Horta-Osorio’s hotel room on several occasions during the trip and letting herself in with her own key.

A copy of the room bill obtained by The Sun shows the room was booked in Horta-Osorio’s name using his Lloyds Bank address.

The room and charges for mini-bar and room service came to $5,796 in Singapore dollars (£3,276).

A separate bill for two visits to the hotel spa came to $974.77 (£550).

 Horta-Osorio, 52, has been keen to portray himself as a whiter-than-white bank boss
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Horta-Osorio, 52, has been keen to portray himself as a whiter-than-white bank bossCredit: Reuters

Last night it was unclear whether the bank boss, known as AHO, had paid the bills himself or if the tabs were picked up by Lloyds - which is nine per cent owned by British taxpayers.

Horta-Osorio, 52, has been keen to portray himself as a whiter-than-white bank boss and family man.

He boasted of his determination to “lead by example” after being appointed CEO in 2011 and said he had taken the job because his wife Ana had told him to.

 He boasted of his determination to “lead by example” after being appointed CEO in 2011
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He boasted of his determination to “lead by example” after being appointed CEO in 2011Credit: 4See / eyevine

In 2013 he launched a “Code of Responsibility” for all Lloyds employees urging them to “do the right thing” and asking: “Have I understood the risks and implications of what I am doing?

“Would I be happy to tell my colleagues, family and friends about my actions?

“Am I leading by example?”

Lloyds - bailed out by the Government to the tune of £23.7bn - has been under huge pressure and last month announced 3,000 job cuts.

 Sources say Horta-Osorio and Dr Piatt spent a huge amount of time together either in his suite overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay, on day trips or eating at top restaurants
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Sources say Horta-Osorio and Dr Piatt spent a huge amount of time together either in his suite overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay, on day trips or eating at top restaurantsCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

On Sunday they were seen posing for a string of flirty selfies before taking a boat ride around Marina Bay

 A source said their relationship started off as a professional one but 'has clearly become something much more than that'
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A source said their relationship started off as a professional one but 'has clearly become something much more than that'Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

And the revelation that the chief executive has been conducting an affair after travelling abroad for bank business is potentially hugely damaging.

A source said: “If Antonio has been using Lloyds money to fund a trip where he has met his mistress in his hotel room then tax-payers and shareholders will take a very dim view indeed.

“This is very risky behaviour.

“Even if he was paying for it personally, he was nevertheless on official bank business at this time and at a time when Lloyds has come under pressure both pre and post Brexit it shows very poor judgement indeed.

Horta-Osorio showed no sign of being under strain as he and Dr Piatt arrived in Singapore.

She has been a director general of the Russell Group, which represents leading UK research universities, since 2007.

Portuguese chief Horta-Osorio, who is known as “The Special One” of the banking world, was due to attend the International Monetary Conference on behalf of Lloyds on Monday June 6.

The Sun understands Dr Piatt, 45, had told her bosses at the Russell Group that she was visiting Singapore as part of her work to build relationships with overseas universities.

Chief's guide to behaviour

LLOYDS boss Antonio Horta-Osorio expects only the very best behaviour from his 80,000 staff.

In 2013 he personally signed off a Code of Responsibility for all its employees. Guidelines included getting the staff member to ask themselves: “Would I be happy to tell my colleagues, family and friends about my actions?

“Would Lloyds Banking Group be comfortable if my actions were reported externally?”

It adds: “We expect all colleagues to live up to the Code.”

There is no suggestion she has wrongly claimed costs or expenses.

On the Friday, three days before the banking conference started, he checked in to the Mandarin Oriental under his own name and using his official Lloyds Bank address.

Sources said the couple spent a huge amount of time together either in Horta-Osorio’s suite overlooking Singapore’s Marina Bay or on day trips or eating together at top restaurants.

A copy of Horta-Osorio’s hotel room bill handed to The Sun by hotel staff shows he spent around £450 on room service and items from the mini-bar and £12 for on-demand movie as well as hotel restaurant and laundry expenses.

The pair had dinner together on the Friday before going back to his suite.

Dr Wendy was also seen spending time on Saturday in the hotel’s spa where all over body massages with aromotherapy treatments cost around £150 each.

A sum of £300 was charged to Horta-Osorio’s hotel room for treatments at the spa that day.

Horta-Osorio’s wife Ana runs her own spa in Lisbon, Portugal, and has written an online blog praising the virtues of “organic spas.”

 Horta-Osorio, who was paid £8.5million last year, is one of the most powerful bankers in the world
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Horta-Osorio, who was paid £8.5million last year, is one of the most powerful bankers in the worldCredit: Reuters

On Sunday he and Dr Piatt seen posing for a string of flirty selfies in the sunshine before taking a boat ride around the Bay, dubbed Singapore’s millionaire playground.

A source said: “They appeared to be behaving like the sort of typical loved-up couple you’d see on holiday.

“There was definite chemistry between them.

“They were all smiles as they queued for a boat trip together and even though he is married he was seemingly unconcerned that they might be spotted together.”

On Monday, Dr Piatt checked into her own room booked for her at the Mandarin by the Russell Group.

Horta-Osorio represented Lloyds at a number of speeches and sessions at the banking conference and had dinner with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Lloyds recently switched its Asia HQ from Hong Kong to Singapore.

 He had dinner with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the recent banking conference
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He had dinner with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the recent banking conferenceCredit: Splash News

Meanwhile, Dr Piatt spent the week attended several meetings with university chiefs.

On Wednesday the pair enjoyed a final evening together enjoying a nightcap on the hotel roof-top bar before retiring to his room.

The couple then left and flew back separately to Heathrow the following day.

The Sun understands the couple first met when Horta-Osorio gave a speech at a Russell Group dinner hosted by Dr Piatt in 2012.

A senior source said: “It started off as a professional relationship but has clearly become something much more than that.

“It began with a few lunches and has presumably grown from there.

“Wendy is single and knows that he is married.”

Horta-Osorio has been married to Ana for 25 years and the couple have three grown-up children.

He was poached from Santander in 2011 to resurrect Lloyds in the wake of the credit crunch.

Horta-Osario’s image as a stable family man was cited as one of the reasons for his appointment.

He has regularly spoken of the importance to him of his wife Ana and their children.

He praised Ana for urging him to seek help after he ended up in the Priory with stress-related insomnia after less than a year in charge of Lloyds.

He said: “I sought medical advice and went to see a specialist.

“He told me that in effect my battery was so run down that it was virtually on zero.

“I went to the Priory for a week just to rest.

“Then I went home and was immediately sleeping eight hours a day.

“By then I felt extremely well and was telling the chairman I wanted to come back to work.”

Horta-Osorio has been described as the “great white hope” of banking and has said: “I want - as I always do, by the way - to lead by example.”

He has hosted a number of charity dinners - including for Save the Children and Great Ormond Street hospital.

But in 2014 there was fury when it was revealed he was paid £11.5 million.

Last year he was paid £8.1m - a six per cent pay rise when Lloyds staff got just two per cent.

Former convent schoolgirl Dr Piatt, former deputy director of Mr Blair's Strategy Unit, lives in a £1 million central London flat.

She is a regular TV pundit criticising government education policy.

Banker among the most powerful on the planet

ANTONIO Horta-Osorio is one of the most powerful bankers in the world. Lloyds paid him £8.5million last year and £11.5million in 2014. But he defended the salary, saying: “I hope people will judge pay for performance.” Horta-Osorio, close to ex-Bank of England governor Mervyn King, was hailed as the “great white hope” of UK banking. And he addressed staff in Birmingham in 2013 with then Chancellor George Osborne. He said after his appointment to the top job at Lloyds in 2011: “I’m conscious of the vitally important role the group plays in the UK’s social and economic fabric.” But within eight months he was forced to stand down temporarily while he went into rehab for exhaustion apparently caused by insomnia. On his return, he vowed to “get taxpayers’ money back”. In 2013 he was awarded “best banker in the world” by Euro­money magazine and thanked his wife Ana for her support. The dad of three said: “I’m happy my wife and daughter are here. I’m immensely grateful to my family for their support through what has been at times a difficult journey.” In March 2014 he said he wanted Lloyds to be a more family-run bank, adding: “I want to lead this by example.” Lloyds has been beset by scandals. It was fined £226million in 2014 after becoming the first bank to be censured for rigging the Libor rate. Last year it was slapped with a record £117million fine for mishandling PPI complaints.