Anoj Singh had eight cash vaults instead of four, Zondo hears

Testifying at the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture on Thursday, former Transnet chief financial officer (CFO) Anoj Singh seemed to struggle to explain why he had eight safety vaults to store large amounts of cash and other valuables.

This after Singh told commission chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo during his testimony in March that he had four safety vaults at Knox Vault in Killarney, Johannesburg.

ALSO READ: Singh ‘unaware’ he shared flight to Dubai with Gupta lieutenant

Singh said he needed the safety deposit boxes for four of his family members.

He told the commission that he paid around R10,000 for the safety deposits per month and he made use of them between 2013 and 2017.

However, evidence leader advocate Anton Myburgh, during the proceedings on Thursday, revealed that the commission found out Singh had eight safety vaults instead of four.

[Reading] Mr Singh would return to the vehicle and Witness 3 would notice that the bag was now empty. He informed us that he suspected that Mr Singh had deposited the contents in a safe at Knox Vault. #StateCaptureInquiry

— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) April 22, 2021

When asked by Zondo to clarify the matter, Singh explained: “I did say that I did not recall the number of boxes that actually I had at the time. Remember when I had given evidence the issue of Knox Vault was not put to me.

ALSO READ: Anoj Singh stored cash, other valuables at Knox Vault, Zondo hears

“There was discussion relating to Knox Vault that emanated from my testimony at the time … based on witness 3’s testimony, but the details of relating to Knox Vault in terms of the information that you see before today didn’t exist on the day that I testified. So when I testified I was testifying from memory.”

Singh did, however, reiterate that he would store up to R200,000 in cash that he made from gambling and moonlighting.

The matter stems from Witness 3’s evidence, who testified at the commission in camera because of security fears last year.

ALSO READ: Anoj Singh slips up, reveals witness 3’s name at Zondo commission

The witness told the commission he would drive Singh to the Gupta family’s residence, when the former Transnet official would often carry a bag, which on some occasions was filled with R100 or R200 notes.

The witness, Singh’s former bodyguard and driver, further said the former Transnet official would regularly lock the money in a vault.

But Singh denied the allegations, insisting witness 3 never drove him to Knox Vault, adding that the witness’s affidavit and testimony were not credible.

[Reading] Mr Singh implied, in response to a question as to how Witness 3 would know of Knox Vault, that Witness 3 obtained the information regarding Knox Vault
from someone within or from the Commission. #StateCaptureInquiry

— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) April 22, 2021

Meanwhile, the former Transnet official conceded on Thursday the commission could not have given witness 3 information about him depositing cash at Knox Vault.

Zondo asked: “Shall I take it that you are saying you accept that [witness 3] got to know about [Knox Vault], but you don’t know how he knew about it because as far as you are concerned he never took you there.”

READ MORE: Transnet top brass fingered in alleged Gupta cash payments, Zondo hears

Singh: “Yes chair, that’s correct. On the day that I testified I did not know that the information relating to the investigators’ report came to the attention of the investigator on the 29th of April 2019 because I was not presented with anything relating to Knox Vault.

“I was asked how did [witness 3] come to know, so I then provided an explanation I thought was relevant at the time,” he said.

The former Transnet official previously claimed he believed the witness was being put under pressure by people from Transnet and the commission’s investigators to deliver his testimony.

Watch the proceedings below, courtesy of the SABC.