Accounting body charges former Steinhoff boss Markus Jooste with misconduct
The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (SAICA) has instituted charges of misconduct against former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste.
Jooste is among company executives accused of structuring and implementing various transactions over a number of years which inflated the profit and assets of the group.
Former CFO Ben la Grange and former executives Dirk Schreiber and Stehan Grobler are also on the list of the individuals implicated in a report by audit firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC).
The multi-national retailer was plunged into a crisis in 2017 when its stock dropped dramatically amid allegations of fraud against Jooste.
In a statement released on Monday, SAICA said Jooste had acted in a manner that brought the accountancy profession into disrepute.
The accounting body also found that he failed to maintain and adhere to the fundamental principles in the SAICA Professional Code of Conduct for Chartered Accountants.
“By-Laws (2020) (Paragraph 17 of Appendix 4) permit the issuing of public statements by the SAICA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) regarding the institution of any complaint or investigation or action against a member once a draft charge sheet or a charge sheet has been issued to such member and such matter, complaint, investigation or action is, in the opinion of the CEO, in the public interest,” said SAICA.
Jooste has 21 days to respond.
“Once his response to the charges is received, the SAICA secretariat will review the response and table the matter for adjudication before the Professional Conduct Committee.”
Jooste’s SAICA membership was suspended in 2019 pending the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings against him.
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