Almost a decade after Steinhoff imploded, executives are still being fined.
Image: File
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has imposed a R358.75 million administrative penalty on former Steinhoff legal head Stephanus Grobler.
This is the latest development in the decade-long unravelling of South Africa’s biggest corporate scandal.
The regulator said on Monday it had concluded its investigation into Grobler’s role in preparing Steinhoff International Holdings financial statements for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 financial years, as well as the 2017 half year.
It found that he breached the Financial Markets Act by making or publishing false, misleading or deceptive statements.
“The financial statements issued by Steinhoff during the relevant period were found to be false, misleading or deceptive in respect of material facts that were either misstated or omitted,” said the FSCA.
Grobler served as company secretary, head of treasury and in-house legal counsel for the Steinhoff group and was also a director of several subsidiary companies.
In March last year, he was arrested and appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of racketeering, fraud involving R21 billion, manipulation of financial statements and failure to report fraudulent activities. He was granted R150,000 bail and a judgement has not yet been handed down.
In October 2024, the state seized shares and money worth thousands from Grobler under Exchange Control Regulations.
A brief timeline of Steinhoff's implosion.
Image: ChatGPT
The penalty comes nearly a decade after Steinhoff’s December 2017 collapse, which wiped billions off the company’s market value and triggered investigations across multiple jurisdictions.
Former chief executive Markus Jooste has been widely cited as the central figure behind the fraud, described as South Africa’s largest corporate scandal. He apparently shot himself last year, a day before he was due to be arrested.
Jooste’s death came a day after the FSCA imposed a R475 million administrative penalty on him for accounting irregularities.
The regulator has since lodged a claim against Jooste’s estate to recover the fine.
Former chief financial officer Andries Benjamin le Grange was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, half of which was suspended, last October. This came after he was convicted of fraud involving more than R367 million linked to manipulated financial statements and failure to report fraudulent activities.
The JSE separately fined him R2 million and barred him from holding office in a public company for 10 years.
Steinhoff International was liquidated last year after it emerged that corporate fraud amounting to about €6.5 billion, roughly R134 billion, had been described as accounting irregularities. The Public Investment Corporation lost close to R21 billion in investments linked to the group.
Several other former executives have faced criminal or regulatory action as authorities continue to pursue accountability nearly a decade after the scandal first erupted.
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