Ajay Gupta has denied that he ever met former Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas.
In a statement sent to the Commission into State Capture Ajay Gupta says he was not even at his home in Saxonwold on the day of the alleged meeting of the 23rd of October saying he has alibis at his Oakbay offices in Sandton who can attest to his presence there that day.
Gupta was responding to allegations made by Jonas that Ajay Gupta tried to bribe and intimidate him into accepting the position of Finance Minister in 2015.
Ajay Gupta’s statement was made together with his application for leave to cross examine Jonas that Commission Chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo subsequently rejected.
Ajay Gupta says there are substantial facts that he disputes in Jonas’ testimony to the Commission.
One is that in the High Court in Pretoria in the case of the Finance Minister against Oakbay, Jonas said he met with Ajay but later at the Commission claimed he was unsure with whom of the Gupta brothers he met.
He says it was only at the Commission that Jonas made the allegation that Ajay threatened to kill him, a claim he never made in an earlier interview with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
Lastly, Ajay claims he did not know businessman Fana Hlongwane at the time of the meeting only that he was a friend of Duduzane Zuma and had no knowledge of any meeting they would have arranged with Jonas.
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