Johannesburg — The former boss of South African retail giant Steinhoff, Markus Jooste, died near Cape Town, according to local media reports on Thursday.
According to local media, the 63-year-old businessman shot himself, but details around his death remain sketchy as police refused to share full information.
“Hermanus SAPS opened an inquest docket for further investigation following the death of a 63-year-old man,” a South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesman told AFP, confirming the deceased was a businessman.
Police arrived at a home in Hermanus, an affluent neighbourhood about 120 kilometres from Cape Town, Malcom Pojie, a SAPS provincial spokesman said, and the deceased succumbed to a fatal gunshot wound after arriving at a hospital.
Former CEO of Steinhoff Markus Jooste (63) died from a fatal gunshot wound to head at his
Kwaaiwater Beach house in Hermanus. It is alleged that Jooste shot himself, following FSCA imposing a R475 million penalty on the former Steinhoff CEO, police have opened an inquest docket. pic.twitter.com/HF8GQBntIB— CrimeInSA (@sa_crime) March 21, 2024
Jooste’s death comes a day after he was slapped with a R475 million ($25.2 million) fine by the country’s financial market watchdog Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FCSA).
The ex-CEO is accused of using fake transactions to artificially inflate the group’s profits.
“The investigation found that Mr Jooste… published false, misleading, or deceptive statements about Steinhoff International Holdings” which he knew to be “deceptive” the FCSA said in a statement on Wednesday.
The FCSA’s issued a April 19 deadline for the payment.
Steinhoff was put under investigation in 2017 on suspicion of fraud, with a reported six billion euro ($6.6 billion) hole in its accounts.
[Media Release]
Update on Steinhoff International Holdings Limited and Steinhoff International Holdings NV: https://t.co/6ArlgAd7T6#FSCAEnforcements pic.twitter.com/ruJm04ogW6
— FSCA South Africa (@fscasouthafrica) March 20, 2024
Jooste resigned but denied any knowledge of accounting fraud.
The South Africa-based company, which is listed in both Frankfurt and Johannesburg, saw nearly 98 percent of its share value wiped out as it faced a barrage of litigation from aggrieved shareholders and business partners, including former chairman C.
In June a German court issued an arrest warrant against Jooste after he failed to appear for the start of his trial in April last year.
Investigations into the death are ongoing, police said.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@XolisawZondo
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