Markus Jooste’s latest appeal denied, now he must pay R15 million fine

The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed the latest appeal by disgraced businessman Markus Jooste. File Picture: Armand Hough/ African News Agency (ANA)

The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed the latest appeal by disgraced businessman Markus Jooste. File Picture: Armand Hough/ African News Agency (ANA)

Published Oct 12, 2023

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The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed the latest appeal by disgraced businessman Markus Jooste.

The tribunal has upheld the sanctions imposed on him by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The former Steinhoff CEO has been given a fine by the JSE to the value of R15 million and cannot serve as a director for a listed company for 20 years.

The JSE imposed “a public censure and the maximum permissible fine of R7,500,000 for Steinhoff’s consolidated financial statements for the 2015 and prior financial periods and for the 15 months ended September 30, 2016, which did not comply with IFRS and the Listings Requirements, and was incorrect, false and misleading in material aspects”.

The exchange also stated that Jooste would be given a “public censure and a permissible fine of R7,500,000 for his breaches of the listings requirements regarding the Steinhoff at Work transaction”.

Last month, Jooste’s legal team claimed that the businessman had no knowledge about the accounting irregularities at Steinhoff and there was no evidence to show that he knew anything.

The tribunal, however, dismissed Jooste’s legal application and stated that his emails illustrated that he was involved heavily in Steinhoff’s finances.

Steinhoff International to be liquidated

Steinhoff International will be liquidated this week and will effectively cease to exist.

The date for Steinhoff to be liquidated will be October 13.

The embattled retail company will delist from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Exchange.

At its peak, Steinhoff was trading at R96.85 a share and had a market cap of R359.6 billion, according to the Daily Investor.

Over the last six months, the company share price has lost 85.71 percent of its value, and over the past year, it has lost 98.43 percent of its value.

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