Cape Town — The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) said the sudden passing of Markus Jooste, will not impact its investigation into Steinhoff.
Jooste tragically passed away after taking his own life on a Hermanus beach, just one day after he was hit with a R475 million fine by the FSCA owing to false financial statements and annual reports from 2014 through to 2017.
The FSCA said it will continue to assist the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as it attempts to bring justice to the wrongs committed by Jooste. Jooste maintained his innocence right up until his death, and he believed Steinhoff’s share price collapse would have been avoided if he were allowed to fire Deloitte, and hire a new auditing company that was willing to sign-off the financial results, SABC News reported.
Jooste blamed Austrian businessman Andreas Seifert for causing all the troubles. Seifert joined Steinhoff in 2007 and was key in exposing some irregularities to the German tax authorities. According to PwC investigation, Steinhoff had overstated profits over several years amounting to 5. 6 billion pounds between the period 2009 to 2017.
Independent analyst Khaya Sithole tells Mpho Sithole that the death of former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste leaves more questions than he would have answered had he been tried in a court of law.
Watch: https://t.co/19TZYJiqKe#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/xYSiLQX9LQ
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 22, 2024
The FSCA says it is legally entitled to recover the penalty imposed on Jooste from his estate and that it is continuing with other investigations into similar contraventions.
According to EWN, Jooste remained out of the public eye since the Steinhoff collapse in 2017, appearing in Parliament in 2018 to explain his role in the collapse.
After nine months of dodging Parliament, he appeared at a joint meeting of three committees in September 2018, after being subpoenaed and arrived with an army of lawyers. MPs were under strict instructions about the questions they could pose and Jooste frustrated them by shifting the blame for the accounting irregularities.
I said I would take it like a man for the mistakes I made, and I have lost my whole career that I spent with Steinhoff.” Jooste said.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@tndaba
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
