A Johannesburg businessman, Gavin Varejes, has admitted paying R100,000 (Rs 6.5 lakh approx) to buy silence of a South African woman, Helen Cohen Alon, who has accused Australian cricketer Shane Warne of bombarding her with raunchy messages.
In view of the stunning admission, the police officer investigating the charges, Captain Julius Smith, has asked Interpol to obtain a statement from Warne.
Smith was quoted in the local media in Durban as saying that Varejes had admitted to contacting Cohen Alon when he heard that she had a story about Warne.
Varejes contacted Cohen Alon during this year's cricket World Cup in South Africa when he heard she was trying to sell her story to the press. After checking Warne's number was on her cellphone, he arranged for the payment.
"He saw the messages Shane Warne sent to Cohen Alon and paid her R100,000 because he wanted to keep it quiet," Smith said.
Varejes later revealed to the police the payment he had made, and in a tangled twist he laid a counter-charge of blackmail, the officer said.
The officer also said he had seen a document with the heading: 'Full and final settlement'.
Captain Smith disclosed that the woman had laid a charge of 'crimen injuria' against Warne in connection with the messages that the champion leg spinner had sent her. The messages were "sexually related", he said.
Cohen Alon caused a sensation a few weeks ago when she alleged that Warne had sent her lewd cellphone text messages for more than a year. She also claimed that he made suggestive telephone calls to her.
Cohen Alon, a divorcee and a mother of three, claimed that she and the cricketer became 'good friends' after they met in an upmarket Johannesburg shopping mall during an Australian cricket tour of South Africa.
Warne kept in touch with regular text messages, she said, one of which read, "Where are you now, waiting for you, should I get dressed or stay naked, room 2001, Shane."
He also allegedly texted her on his return to Australia saying he was "thinking naughty thoughts" about her while in bed with his wife.
These messages were tame, she claimed, compared with others sent over a period of a year - which were 'not suitable for a family newspaper'.
Cohen Alon was to fly to Australia but decided against it due to 'security reasons'.
Meanwhile, the embattled cricketer has taken temporary refuge in London where he is to play a charity match this week.
