charge that Shaik had more than R1 million (US$154,000) written off. Shaik owed this money to companies in the Nkobi group, and included payments made to Zuma. The write-off meant that it disappeared from Nkobi's books. Shaik said that it was a mistake and that he had his auditors fix it in subsequent financial years. Van der Walt said that it did not matter that it was fixed, as it was still a crime, asserting that "you can fix the amounts, but not the irregularity." He said Shaik stood to benefit most from the write-off. He also added that the fact that an auditor was advising him did not reduce his liability as director. Shaik told the court that the company's auditors and financial director Colin Isaacs took full responsibility for the financial side of operations, that he was sure that the accounting books were in order, and that when he became aware of the problem he had it corrected. He had no intention to commit fraud. Auditing clerk Anthony Reed said he was instructed by Ahmed Paruk to effect the write-off. Paruk said he was instructed by Shaik to do it. He said Shaik told him that there was "no way in which he owed that type of money to his companies". Former Nkobi accountant Celia Bester said that the money written off was cash bribes paid to "various ministers" by Shaik. The writing-off, she said, was the main trigger for her final resignation. She told Judge Squires that she "saw it purely as bribe money". Third charge: Corruption For the second charge of corruption against Shaik, the State proved that Shaik had solicited a bribe from French arms company Thomson for Zuma. Zuma agreed to protect Thomson in return. As evidence for the charge, Van der Walt said there were clear signs that an "informal corrupt" process was followed, apart from the formal process when South Africa's multibillion-rand arms deal was concluded. Government auditor James Edward van Heerden, who did a special review of the arms acquisition process, also concluded that there were deviations from the accepted arms acquisition practices, with no plausible explanation. He told the court that their conclusions were that there should be a special investigation or forensic audit focusing on the involvement of contractors and subcontractors in the deal. The most controversial document produced by the State was a fax ostensibly setting out a