Cape Town — The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that former Steinhoff physician, Dr Gerhardus Diedricks Burger (79) has been sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The NPA confirmed that Burger’s sentence has been suspended for 5 years as long as he does not contravene section 78 (2) of the Financial Markets Act during his suspension period, a statement read.
NPA spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, said Burger has to testify in the criminal proceedings against his accomplices.
“The court issued a confiscation order for €90,000 (about R1.8m) seized by Swiss authorities after the collapse of Steinhoff. This is after Dr Burger pleaded guilty to three counts of insider trading and was convicted of such when he appeared in court,” Mahanjana said.
Mahanjana said further that the late Markus Jooste sent Dr Burger a text advising him to sell his Steinhoff shares. He complied, selling more than 39 000 Steinhoff shares held at Stefana Overseas Ltd, where Burger was a beneficiary.
The late Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s friend, Gerhardus Burger, has been handed a five-year suspended sentence for insider trading. The Hawks arrested the 79-year-old this morning. He pleaded guilty in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Burger’s accused of… pic.twitter.com/D2rs3YTMEV
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“Shortly after the sale of the shares, Steinhoff shares plummeted and became almost worthless. At that point, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) instituted investigations where Dr Burger was convicted and found guilty of insider trading for the same transactions and paid a penalty of R3 million to FSCA. FSCA then referred the matter to the NPA for a criminal prosecution,” Mahanjana said.
“The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the conviction and sentence. It is important for the public to understand that criminal prosecutions require patience, preparation, and a certain measure of certainty,” Mahanjana said.
Accrding to The Citizen, Burger’s arrest comes after Steinhoff’s former legal head, Stéhan Grobler, was arrested in March.
Grobler will appear in court again next week on 4 October after he was released on R150 000 bail on charges of fraud and racketeering, which he denies.
Steinhoff’s former chief financial officer, Ben la Grange, who was arrested in June, was also granted R150 000 bail.
Ex-Stenhoff CEO, Markus Jooste was hit with a mammoth R475 million fine in March this year for financial statements from 2014 to 20177, but just one day later, he died of a suspected suicide. The NPA has continued with the investigation and has subsequently arrested the three individuals mentioned.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
