/ 28 April 2010

Selebi’s financial affairs under scrutiny in court

Selebi's Financial Affairs Under Scrutiny In Court

A hand-written document compiled by Jackie Selebi’s wife, Anne, has become the focal point of the former police chief’s cross-examination in the South Gauteng High Court.

Selebi brought the document with him on Wednesday morning after chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court on Friday he would start questioning Selebi on “money matters” this week.

Selebi originally claimed his wife and him compiled the document over the weekend, but later admitted that it was mainly the work of his spouse, who kept all purchase receipts and kept the family’s cash in a safe.

When Nel started asking questions about their finances, Selebi’s attorney Wynanda Coetzee led Anne Selebi out of court, indicating that she would testify for the defence.

However, Jackie Selebi later told Nel he was not aware that his wife would testify in his defence.

Nel painstakingly went through Selebi’s financial records on Wednesday morning, ultimately leading to questions why the Selebi family’s expenditure was substantially lower in those months Selebi allegedly received bribes from drug-dealer Glenn Agliotti.

By lunchtime, Selebi had twice denied having received money from Agliotti when Nel put it to him that the only way the family’s spending patterns could be explained was because he was receiving bribes.

“I did not receive a penny from him,” said the former police boss, who looked increasingly irritated by Nel’s questioning of his personal affairs.

There was a tense moment in court when Nel asked the court orderly — a policeman — to fetch Anne Selebi’s document from her husband and bring it to him. Jackie Selebi indicated with his hand to the orderly not to come to him.

When Nel saw that, he shouted at the orderly: “Fetch the document, Mr orderly!”

According to Selebi his family had about R31 000 available to spend in the period December 2004 to January 2005. Asked where this came from, Selebi said his wife received a gift voucher worth R10 000 from the Taiwanese embassy, he had R16 000’s worth of euros in his safe at home and they received income from his wife’s small business.

This, according to Selebi, explains why the family spent less than R1 000 a month on groceries in those two months. But, said Nel, a more likely explanation is the R300 000 bribes Selebi allegedly received from Agliotti. This the former police chief vehemently denied.

Selebi faces charges of corruption and defeating the ends of justice. Cross-examination continues.