Peter Challis was heard in the WAW Credit Union talking to employees about who they would vote for as the new director, in the election that has led to criminal charges again him.
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Wodonga Magistrates Court heard on Thursday that WAW manager Danny McGuigan was interviewed by investigating body ASIC in 2017.
"Around the time of the election I had observed Challis asking staff 'are you voting in the election?', 'which way are you voting?', 'you should consider voting for' name I cannot now recall," he said in the interview.
Defence lawyer Garry Livermore said this was just "coffee room talk".
"The topic of the director's election was the subject of coffee room chat by various combinations of management and employees, both before the election, during the election and after the election," he said.
"You did not hear Mr Challis putting pressure on or coercing any person to vote in a particular way."
MORE NEWS FROM COURT:
Mr McGuigan agreed with Mr Livermore's comments that Mr Challis was "encouraging people to exercise their vote".
Challis allegedly had a preference in the election for David Iverson and Tim Frazer to be elected to the board over Tracey Toohey and Ali Pockley.
While Mr Iverson would have been elected without the 627 votes, the court heard Mr Frazer would not have.
Other staff from WAW and Crowe Horwath, which investigated the matter, also gave evidence on Thursday.
The committal hearing for Challis will continue in March.
