Former Steinhoff finance chief to spend five years in jail, after plea deal

Stephen Grootes gets comment from Rob Rose, editor of new publication 'Currency' and author of 'Steinheist'.

Former Steinhoff CFO Ben la Grange pleaded guilty to one charge of fraud in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday.

He was sentenced to a ten-year prison term, but will serve only five years behind bars.

In exchange, la Grange agreed to testify for the State in further Steinhoff prosecutions.

The charge he was convicted of concerned a dodgy invoice of close to R400 million - a staggering R376 649 872.

NPA 'hugely disappointed' Markus Jooste won't get his day in court

Stephen Grootes gets comment from Rob Rose, editor of new publication 'Currency' and author of 'Steinheist'.

Rose emphasizes that this single charge of fraud does not relate to the bigger fraud at the disgraced retail company.

"It was one specific incident of a fraudulent handwritten invoice which Markus Jooste gave to la Grange and told him to process. This massive invoice was put into Steinhoff's accounts, which turned a R47 million loss into a massive profit for the year."

"It fundamentally changed the picture of Steinhoff at the time."

"In the plea bargain they said that le Grange was not the mastermind... He was definitely useful to Jooste and he was the most senior financial executive at the company, so in a sense the quest for accountability had to eventually turn to him."

Rob Rose, Editor - Currency

Regarding la Grange's agreement to testify in any future prosecutions, who is there left to prosecute?

Rose explains that the former CFO was always groomed as a potential state witness, but then Markus Jooste's death removed the 'big fish' from the equation.

"For five and a half years la Grange had worked with the Hawks and the regulators and investigators as a potential state witness... and then Jooste died, so the person he was being lined up to testify against was gone."

"That's when the focus had to shift to who was next in line... It's really only former company secretary Stéhan Grobler who's still on trial, but there's always talk there will be others added here locally."

Rob Rose, Editor - Currency

To hear more from Rose, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article