An Irish businessman suing a rabbi over an alleged campaign of sexual slander yesterday described a claim that he offered a family friend $1,000,000 for his wife as "ridiculous".
Mr Brian Maccaba (45), an married father-of-six at the centre of the defamation case in the High Court in London, told a jury that there was also no truth in allegations that he sexually harassed teacher Mr Alain Attar's wife Nathalie.
He was giving evidence from the witness box on the fourth day of his slander action against Rabbi Dayan Yaakov Lichtenstein, who he accuses of spreading "poisonous" slurs about him in early 2001 after it was claimed he had made the offer for Ms Attar.
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 officer and founder of the international technology company Cognotec.
The jury has heard that the allegations relating to Ms Attar were found "not proven" by the Kedassia Beth Din in May 2001.
Referring to the alleged offer of $1,000,000, Mr Maccaba told the jury and Mr Justice Gray yesterday: "I told the Beth Din 'This is a ridiculous suggestion'.
"Mr Attar said that I had met him in August 1998 when his wife was in Marseille, and that I had offered him one million dollars and I said this was completely untrue."
His counsel, Mr Clive Freedman QC, asked him if there was ever any incident when he sought to "force" himself on Ms Attar. Mr Maccaba said: "No, never."
Mr Freedman asked if he had ever sought to touch her "intimately", to which he replied: "Absolutely not." The court has heard that Ms Attar claims she did not have a fair hearing at the Beth Din.
Mr Maccaba, who converted to Judaism in 1990, says that he and Ms Attar had become "too close" emotionally, but there was never any sexual relationship nor any "indecent proposal". He said the sexual allegations had been "enormously damaging" to him, both within the Jewish and non-Jewish community.
"The story has gone around and I haven't been able to close it off. As long as Dayan Lichtenstein doesn't retract, many people will believe him because he is a dayan." He said that it was "absolutely appalling" to be labelled a "sex pest". - (PA)