Irish businessman Mr Brian Maccaba told yesterday of his shock when he heard of allegations that he had committed adultery with three married Jewish women.
Mr Maccaba, who accuses a senior rabbi of waging a "poisonous" sexual smear campaign against him, told a jury in the High Court in London he was "stunned" to learn of the "completely untrue" claims.
Mr Maccaba denies a defence claim that he offered teacher Mr Alain Attar $1 million to buy his wife, Nathalie, also a teacher - echoing the plot of the film Indecent Proposal.
The 45-year-old married father of six, who converted to Judaism in 1990, said the accusation of "Niuf" - sexual intercourse with a married woman within the Jewish community - was "considered a form of incest in the Jewish world".
Mr Maccaba is seeking damages against Rabbi Dayan Yaakov Lichtenstein, who he accuses of spreading allegations within the orthodox community that he was a "sexual predator" and a "serial adulterer" who chased after young married Jewish women.
Rabbi Lichtenstein, the senior judge in the Beth Din, or rabbinical court, of the Federation of Synagogues, disputes slandering Mr Maccaba, of Hendon, north London, who is the chief executive and founder of technology company Cognotec.
Mr Maccaba went into the witness box yesterday, the third day of the hearing, and said he became aware in early 2001 that the federation Beth Din had a "file" on him "containing evidence that I had committed Nuif".
The businessman said he found out about the file after making an application to a secondary school for his eldest daughter. "As soon as I heard it was the federation Beth Din, I really feared the worst. I had had on a number of occasions in the previous three or four years very disturbing incidents with Dayan Lichtenstein."
The jury was told by Mr Maccaba's QC, Mr Clive Freedman, that Mr Maccaba and Mrs Nathalie Attar had had a "close, emotional attachment", which was "reciprocal", from June 1998 until August 1999, but it was at all times "not a physical relationship" and there was no question of any sexual harassment.
Mr Maccaba said that he first met Alain Attar in 1990 and met his wife, Nathalie, shortly after the couple married in 1993.
He met Nathalie's father the following year and hit it off with him straightaway. In 1995, Nathalie had their first child and Mr Maccaba and his wife, Ruth, attended the celebrations.
In 1997, at Mr Attar's request, he lent them £7,800 as the deposit on their first home. Mr Maccaba said that he and Nathalie got closer when he went to pick up his daughter from extra tuition which Nathalie was giving her. They shared a bond in that neither of them were from England and they had a common interest in reading and writing poetry.
"Looking back, obviously at some level it was quite inappropriate being that close and affectionate and looking out for each other when married to other people," he said. He said that, after a June 1998 business trip to Spain, he attended Nathalie's brother's wedding in Marseille at her encouragement.
He spent the night at the apartment belonging to Nathalie's parents, Mr and Mrs Dray, and was awoken by a knock at his door at 4.30 a.m.
"It was Nathalie who was nine months pregnant at the time. She came in and sat down and we chatted for about an hour; we had a very personal chat," Mr Maccaba said.
"I'm not suggesting anything scandalous or sexual - just a very personal chat in the early hours of the morning." He added: "Increasingly the truth is we became far too close. We were two people married to other people and, thank God, still married to those people today.
Mr Maccaba said that Nathalie "quite consistently" expressed a view that Ruth was "not the right person for me".
Mr Maccaba said he and Nathalie became "much too close" emotionally and by May or June 1999 it became clear that "it should end".
He told the jury: "It may sound strange, but I was on very good terms with her husband throughout this period and he knew we exchanged poetry."
Mr Maccaba said it was "completely false" that he had tried to convince Nathalie that her marriage was not valid under Jewish law.
The intense relationship with Nathalie did not continue. - (PA)