Ex-Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste hit with R475m penalty for contravening sections of FMA

CAPE TOWN - The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) on Wednesday issued a penalty of R475 million against former Steinhoff CEO, Markus Jooste. 

In 2017, he was embroiled in an accounting scandal that led to the collapse of the global retailer. 

In September 2019, the authority handed Steinhoff an administrative penalty of R1.5 billion, that was remitted to R53 million and that fine was paid before Steinhoff International became a new private Dutch holding company at the end of 2023. 

The FSCA said an investigation found that Jooste and Steinhoff's Dirk Schreiber made or published false, misleading, or deceptive statements about the firm, which they knew, or ought reasonably to have known, were false, misleading, or deceptive. 

Last year, Schreiber was handed a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence by a German court. 

The FSCA has also found Jooste and Schreiber contravened the Financial Markets Act (FMA) in respect of financial statements and reports between 2014 and 2017. 

The authority highlighted that's when the Steinhoff International securities were listed on the JSE and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. 

The authority said that due to Schreiber's cooperation with the investigation, he would not face any penalty, while it warned that further investigations continued into similar contraventions by other individuals.