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Cronje's June 22 testimony

MR CRONJE: That could be correct, yes.

COMMISSIONER: That amount of R231 000, also taken to 4.6 to the dollar, seems to me to work out at $50 000?

MR CRONJE: Yes, I think we worked out that it was just under $50 000 yesterday, minus commission or something, I suppose, yes.

COMMISSIONER: You do describe it in your statement as a sum of about $50 000?

MR CRONJE: Yes, I didn't have the benefit of these statements at the time of writing the affidavit, Mr Commissioner.

MS BATOHI: Mr Cronjé, have you recently looked at your NatWest accounts?

MR CRONJE: I only have one NatWest account.

MS BATOHI: Have you recently looked at it, statement that is?

MR CRONJE: I checked it ...

MS BATOHI: Sorry, the statements?

MR CRONJE: Yes, I checked the statements from the 1st of April this year and I believe it has gone from about 600 pounds to 1,900 pounds.

MS BATOHI: You haven't looked at it for the period prior to that, recently?

MR CRONJE: Yes, I do look at it occasionally. I think every three months they send over statements, yes.

MS BATOHI: Is it possible that if you, there may be similar sorts of amounts in any one of your accounts, that you may not be able to account for as you cannot for this particular one?

MR CRONJE: I can account for that amount by saying to you that there is a possibility that it came from Mr Gupta. The accounts that I know from the top of my head, is the NBS savings account and the NatWest account in the UK. If there was any transfers of any money, it would be into one of those two accounts.

MS BATOHI: What I am putting to you Mr Cronjé is that you had completely forgotten about this additional, you shake your head, am I incorrect?

MR CRONJE: I haven't forgotten about it, I wasn't aware of it. I thought it was all done in one amount, to the best of my knowledge when I wrote the affidavit, I thought it was one amount that was transferred.

MS BATOHI: Yes, but that one amount would have been $80 000 and not $50 000?

MR CRONJE: I couldn't remember the amount at the time, it was only made apparent to me when Adv Wallace came up, when he asked for the statements. What that amount was, I couldn't remember the exact amount, that is why I said "about".

MS BATOHI: Are you saying that you couldn't remember whether Mr Gupta had paid you $50 000 or $80 000 on that occasion, is that what you are saying?

MR CRONJE: I was under the impression that it was $50 000.

MS BATOHI: Did you just forget about the other $30 000 Mr Cronjé, it is a lot of money in my book, certainly?

MR CRONJE: I didn't forget about it, and I don't want to sound rude, but sometimes our salaries do go up quite a bit, and in a month it can vary from R40 000 to sometimes over R100 000. I am terribly sorry if I sound blasé or naive, but huge sums of money do go in and out of your account. When you are away on tour, especially for three months, that account can go up and down, and it can be quite substantial.

MS BATOHI: There is another cash deposit of R90 000.

COMMISSIONER: I am sorry, I don't want to misunderstand you, this amount of R139 000 odd, do I understand you to be suggesting that that could represent salary or other benefits or do you accept that that came from some other source?

MR CRONJE: The statement that you have in front of you, Ms Batohi, of the R90 000, next to it it says cash deposit and it also says EFT. From the best of my knowledge and from being told by my auditor and from my personal negotiations or my personal dealings with my bank, that is the transfer from the United Cricket Board for our salaries. I know it says next to it cash deposit, but it is in fact an inter-branch transfer code that they use, EFT, so that would be my salary from the United Cricket Board of South Africa.

COMMISSIONER: So then to revert to my question so that the R139 000 is not your salary obviously?

MR CRONJE: If it says cheque deposit next to it, then it is not my salary, yes.

COMMISSIONER: Well, it does say cheque deposit, but I understand that that is an incorrect description. This is a peculiar situation, we have one page of a statement and I have already been told about three incorrect descriptions, that was apparently a money transfer?

MR CRONJE: The R231 000 and the R139 000, I understand says cheque deposits, but the R231 000 I was told was a transfer and I can tell you Mr Commissioner with surety and absolute hundred percent that the EFT that says cash deposit of R90 000 next to it, is salary from the United Cricket Board of South Africa.

COMMISSIONER: Well, then what does the R139 000 represent, nevermind the shape of form in which it got into the credit of your account, what does it represent?

MR CRONJE: As I say once again, I am not hundred percent sure, I will have to go and check that, I wasn't prepared from a financial point of view, when I walked in here Mr Commissioner.

MS BATOHI: Can I get clarity on that, you say you are not hundred percent sure, but you conceded that you think it was an amount that was paid by Mr Gupta into your account?

MR CRONJE: The reason why I say that it was from Mr Gupta is it was done in a five day period, so it could have been, yes. I assume it was from Mr Gupta.

MS BATOHI: Just one last issue on this 1996 offer before I move on from there, during the discussions by the team, there were obviously a number of people who spoke out firmly against it, and you have mentioned them, can you recall who were the players who were prepared to think about it?

I hear whispers of tea time on my left, I am not sure if it is time for the adjournment.

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