File photo of Steinhoff International. Photo: Bloomberg
Three more accused are facing charges relating to Steinhoff fraud, according to a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
“Iwan Peter Schelbert (63) from Paarl Western Cape and Hein Odendaal (67) from Alberton, Gauteng appeared at the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court together with their co-accused Stephanus Johannes Grobler (64) who was previously granted bail of R150 000. During their appearance, Schelbert and Odendaal were each granted bail of R150 000,” NPA regional spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana of the Gauteng division, Pretoria said on Friday.
The three are collectively facing charges of nine counts of fraud worth millions of rands, manipulation of financial statement and failure to report fraudulent activities and racketeering.
Steinhoff was a multinational holding company that was listed in Germany and South Africa and was officially liquidated on October 13, 2023 as the noose tightened around key players in the fraud following confirmation in 2017 by auditors Deloitte that there were accounting irregularities. Its holdings were in the retail sector primarily in furniture and household goods and included 43.8% stake in South Africa Pepkor group.
It is alleged that between 2014 and 2016 the then CEO Markus Johannes Jooste, who is now deceased, and the three accused persons conducted racketeering activities within the Steinhoff group, as it was captured by certain executive employees.
During that period, it is alleged that Jooste played a major role in the management of the criminal enterprise. Furthermore, it is alleged that the three created documentation of transactions that supported fraudulent transactions used to inflate and falsify the annual financial statement of the Steinhoff Group.
In court, by means of an affidavit, the two told the court that they intend to plead not guilty to the offences and will prove their innocence and further asked the court to release them on bail. The state did not oppose their release on bail because they are not a flight risk. However, the state asked the court to impose stringent bail conditions.
In delivering the Judgement, Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe granted both accused persons bail with the following conditions;
– They should not interfere directly or indirectly with state witnesses.
– They should report to their closest police station every Monday between 6am and 6pm.
--They should hand over their passports to the Investigating Officer and should not apply for new ones.
– They should not travel outside South Africa and their respective provinces without informing the Investigation Officer.
-- They should not commit any criminal offence.
The matter was postponed to May 30, 2025 to obtain a racketeering certificate and to arrange a trial date.
Steinhoff shares tumbled after the fraud became known in 2017. Between August 2017 and March 2019, Steinhoff lost 97%, or $21 billion (R387bn at today’s rate) of its market capitalisation as investors reacted to the news.
The Hawks state that the financial loss occurred by the investors is estimated at €6.5bn.
“Further investigation discovered that a small group of Steinhoff Group executives implemented various transactions over a number of years which resulted in inflating the profit and asset value of the Steinhoff Group,” it said.
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