By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former Steinhoff director Stéhan Grobler handed himself over to police and appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for a bail hearing.
Grobler headed Steinhoff’s legal department and acted as a director for many companies in the group.
He is facing charges of fraud, racketeering activities and contravening the Financial Markets Act.
Grobler’s case has been postponed to Monday for bail application judgement.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as the Hawks) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) secured warrants of arrest against Grobler and Steinhoff Chief Executive Officer, Markus Jooste.
“The exit routes were secured before the message of securing their attendance in court was shared with the defence to ensure that none of the suspects leave the borders,” Mbambo said.
She said the suspects were expected to hand themselves over to police at the Pretoria Central police station on Friday, however, on Thursday, Jooste took his own life.
“After being notified of the arrest warrants, Jooste allegedly committed suicide on the afternoon of March 21, 2024. Grobler appeared in court this morning on the said charges,” Mbambo said.
Jooste was slapped with a R475 million fine by the country’s financial market watchdog, Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FCSA), for faking transactions to artificially inflate the group’s profits.
The FCSA’s issued an April 19 deadline for the payment.
Steinhoff was put under investigation in 2017 on suspicion of fraud, Jooste resigned but denied any knowledge of accounting fraud.
The company 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.
Jooste, at the time of his death, was under investigation by the National Prosecuting Authority in a criminal case, in which he faced penalties of up to R15m or 10 years’ imprisonment, or both.
The FSCA said its civil investigation into Steinhoff is ongoing, despite Jooste’s death on Thursday afternoon.
“As the penalty on the late Jooste in his personal capacity was already imposed at the time of his death, his passing does not impact on the penalty,” the FSCA said.
“The FSCA is legally entitled to recover the penalty from the estate of the late Jooste. Whether the Authority will claim against the estate will be decided at the appropriate time, taking into account all the relevant circumstances, “it added.