Markus Jooste

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange plans to fine Steinhoff International Holdings NV former CEO Markus Jooste R15m for violating listing rules and submitting ...

Jooste is among four people who will go on trial in Germany next year on charges of accounting fraud. On December 14 he approached the Financial Services Tribunal for an order suspending the JSE’s decisions. While the tribunal has dismissed Jooste’s application, the payment of the fines is still being considered.

Disgraced former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste has been banned for 20 years from serving as a director of any company listed on the JSE.

“On 14 December 2022, Mr Jooste applied to the Financial Services Tribunal in terms of section 231 of the FSRA for an order suspending the decisions of the JSE. On the same day, Mr Jooste also applied for the reconsideration of the decisions of the JSE in terms of section 230[1] of the FSRA. The JSE will continue to oppose the reconsideration application.” He also instructed others to record the pro-rata contributions in the Steinhoff at Work accounting records for the financial year ended 30 September 2016.” The Steinhoff Group therefore had to restate its financial statements to rectify the incorrect income previously recorded.” There was no actual transaction nor any legitimate commercial reason that supported the information or calculations contained in the handwritten document.”

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has banned Markus Jooste from serving as a director on any listed company for the next two decades.

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On top of barring Jooste, the JSE has also levied two R7.5 million fines against him. The Steinhoff scandal, which Jooste was at the centre of, has been regarded as the biggest accounting fraud scandal in the country. Jooste has said he will fight this ban and does not agree with this decision. The former Steinhoff CEO has been barred for the next 20 years as well as being served with two large fines.

GEN – General – Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. Censure imposed by the JSE on Mr Markus Jooste, the former Chief Executive Officer of Steinhoff ...

Accordingly, the JSE found Mr Jooste to be in breach of paragraph 8.62(b) of the Listings Requirements in respect of Steinhoff’s financial information for the 30 June 2015 and prior financial periods when Steinhoff had its primary listing on the JSE, and General Principle (v) in respect of the financial information for the fifteen months ended 30 September 2016 when Steinhoff had a secondary listing on the JSE. In the circumstances, the JSE is entitled to publish this censure, and to disqualify Mr Jooste from holding the office of a director or officer of a listed company for a period of 20 years. On the same day, Mr Jooste also applied for the reconsideration of the decisions of the JSE in terms of section 230(1) of the FSRA. Issuers of securities listed on the JSE are only able to comply with the Listings Requirements if their directors take the appropriate actions to ensure that such issuers comply in all aspects with its provisions and to ensure that the financial information of listed companies are, in all aspects, valid and correct and that it represents a fair and accurate exposition of the company's financial information. On 10 January 2023, the Deputy Chairperson of the Financial Services Tribunal, Retired Judge Harms, dismissed the suspension application, other than in regard to the payment of the fine that the JSE has imposed on Mr Jooste. General Principle (v) as Mr Jooste knew, or ought to have known, that inclusion of the fictitious income in respect of the Steinhoff at Work Transaction would in turn inflate the income recorded in Steinhoff’s consolidated financial statements and contributed to the 2016 financial results being incorrect, false and misleading in material respects; and iii. Mr Jooste was the highest-ranking executive in the Company and bore ultimate responsibility for the decisions and actions of management. The result of this fictitious transaction by the processing of the false invoice was that Steinhoff at Work’s income for the fifteen months ended September 2016 was falsely inflated by R376 649 872, which in turn falsely inflated the income of the Steinhoff Group. Thereafter, other Steinhoff representatives created various documents and gave instructions for monies to be transferred between Steinhoff Group bank accounts to create the impression that the pro rata contributions were actually paid to Steinhoff at Work by the TG Group and to be used as audit evidence for the Steinhoff at Work September 2016 audit (“Steinhoff at Work Transaction”). Pursuant to the JSE’s investigation into the conduct of certain individuals that presided at the Company during the periods in question, the JSE has concluded its investigation against Mr Jooste in his capacity as the Chief Executive Officer of Steinhoff at the time of the transgressions referred to in paragraph 1 above. Mr Jooste gave this handwritten document to Mr Ben La Grange, the Chief Financial Officer of Steinhoff at the time, to generate a false invoice to the TG Group forthe contributionsto be received by Steinhoff at Work from TG Group. Steinhoff joined a structure referred to as the “buying group” through its involvement with the TG Group Holding SA and its subsidiary companies (“TG Group”) whereby volume rebates were purported to be negotiated and collected by TG Group for the Steinhoff Group as well as other third parties.

Markus Jooste is still challenging JSE fines totalling R15 million for his role in the balance sheet scandal.