Article Search

 'C.O.P' cheques cashed: witness
    November 06 2009 at 11:58AM Get IOL on your
mobile at m.iol.co.za

Cheques with stubs marked c.o.p, chief and JS were cashed and given to convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti, the High Court in Johannesburg heard on Friday.

"Underneath the word cash is c.o.p," State witness, Martin Flint - the father of Agliotti's ex-fiancee Dianne Muller - told the court during the corruption case of former top cop Jackie Selebi.

Flint, who is also the financial director of Muller's event management company, read this out as he was shown counterfoils of various cheques and stubs by prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

Flint identified his own handwriting on most of them and said he drew them up and cashed them on Agliotti's instructions.
Continues Below ↓





"The cash cheques I would cash personally at the bank [and] give it to Agliotti as soon as possible."

Asked by Nel if he knew what the references referred to, Flint said he thought the JS stood for John Stratton, a business associate of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble.

"The only JS that comes to mind was John Stratton. We were at the time working with John Stratton."

As for whom the cheques marked "chief" and "c.o.p" were intended, Flint replied: "Anything is possible, M'lord. I have no personal knowledge at all."

Later he added: "[Agliotti] would say "Martin make out a cheque, It is for cop or it is for chief, but I had no knowledge of what it meant.

"I do not have any detailed knowledge who Mr Agliotti handed money to."

The court heard that Flint wanted to retract his statement in a previous affidavit that the "c.o.p" stood for payments Agliotti gave to a retired policeman who had been in a car accident.

He said the prosecution had recently pointed out to him that the dates of the cheques and the time that he remembered the policeman, a Mr Bezuidenhout, coming to certain offices did not add up.

Flint also detailed how the account of his company Spring Lights was used by slain mining magnate Brett Kebble, his associate John Stratton and Agliotti.

Agliotti previously testified that he asked Kebble and Stratton for a US1 million "consultancy fee" for access to Selebi.

Flinto told the court that once, when he was at JCI's offices, Kebble told executives that he needed a company for the "DRD matter".

He said Agliotti then asked him if his company Spring Lights 6 had a bank account and if he would sell it to JCI.

Flint said he agreed to the sale as long as he was paid out for the company.

He said he continued to do administrative work for the account.

"Money came into the account from JCI, another associate company, Heath and Associates, RA Kebble and Agliotti himself.

"I was responsible in the main for the making out and signing of the cheques. However the instruction for that always came from Agliotti."

Flint said that once investigations began in the case, he prepared a payment analysis from the account when requested to do by KPMG.

Flint -- dressed in a camel coloured jacket, light blue shirt and navy suit and his white hair skimming his collar -- is the third witness to take the stand as the third week of the trial draws to a close.

Before his testimony began, Flint was warned about possibly receiving indemnity for corruption, fraud, theft and money laundering charges if he is found to testify "honestly and frankly".

At first Flint said he did not want to take the indemnity offered under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act to, but eventually decided to do as he "wish[ed] this nightmare would end".

Muller and Agliotti, who have both served as State witnesses in the case, were warned under the same act.

Flint said when his daughter met Agliotti in 1993 he was a different man.

"He is not the person who appeared in this court. When I met him he drove a battered Nissan and wore clothes from Edgars.

"He was a different person from the one that now is accused of somewhat heinous crimes."

At one point, Flint even mistook a reference to the "accused" to be Agliotti. Nel had asked him how long he had known the accused.

Flint began detailing when Agliotti started dating his daughter before being corrected to answer about his first meeting with Selebi.

During cross-examination, Flint got emotional at his family's involvement in the case.

"You live your life in a certain way and you have certain standards; and these standards get obliterated and you are not aware of that happening.

"I am incredibly uncomfortable and incredibly embarrassed by the entire matter.

"I'm referring to what my family has been through."

Selebi faces a charge of corruption and another of defeating the ends of justice in connection with at least R1.2 million he allegedly received from Agliotti and others in return for favours. - Sapa
Email StoryPrint Story
BOOKMARK THIS STORY
Social bookmarking allows users to save and categorise a personal collection of bookmarks and share them with others. This is different to using your own browser bookmarks which are available using the menus within your web browser.

Use the links below to share this article on the social bookmarking site of your choice.

Read more about social bookmarking at Wikipedia - Social Bookmarking

muti