Former Steinhoff CFO arrested, granted R150k bail
Former Steinhoff Chief Financial Officer Ben la Grange has been granted R150,000 bail following his arrest on Wednesday morning.
La Grange (49) appeared briefly in the Pretoria Specialised Crimes Court alongside another accused in the matter, Stéhan Grobler, who was arrested in March this year.
According to Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale, La Grange faces two counts of racketeering in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, five counts of fraud, and one count of corruption.
He also faces three counts of the contravention of Financial Markets Act in relation to the ongoing Steinhoff investigation.
In March, former Steinhoff Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste took his own life just days after he was slapped with a R475 million fine by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for his role in the multimillion-rand scandal.
Steinhoff was put under investigation in 2017 on suspicion of fraud, with a reported $6.6-billion hole in its accounts.
Jooste resigned but denied any knowledge of accounting fraud.
The South Africa-based company, which is listed in both Frankfurt and Johannesburg, saw nearly 98% of its share value wiped out as it faced a barrage of litigation from aggrieved shareholders and business partners.
In June last year, a German court issued an arrest warrant against Jooste after he failed to appear at the start of his trial.
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