South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority has fined the former Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste 475 million rand ($25.15 million) for publishing false and misleading financial statements.
This is according to a statement from the regulator on Wednesday.
Steinhoff has suffered colossal losses and a plethora of lawsuits since revealing holes in its accounts in December 2017; the first sign of an accounting fraud that led to the near-collapse of the retail group, which is majority owner of South African and discount retailer Pepkor.
Last year, Steinhoff, which was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg bourse, implemented a debt revamp plan to avoid bankruptcy.
The plan gave shareholders rights to 20% of the new entity after the parent company was delisted and a new unlisted holding structure was created.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority said Jooste was fined after an investigation revealed that he and European finance boss Dirk Schreiber made or published statements about Steinhoff International Holdings that they knew were false, misleading, and deceptive.
The Authority also said both Jooste and Schreiber were found to have contravened some sections of the Financial Markets Act, with regards to Steinhoff’s annual financial statements and annual reports for 2014 to 2016 years and the 2017 half year.
Jooste was ordered to pay a fine to the regulator on or before April 19, including 10 million rand to reimburse the Authority for reasonable costs incurred during the investigation.
However, with regards to Schreiber, the FSCA did not impose an administrative penalty due to his cooperation with the investigation and other factors.
