After a tumultuous week during which the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) announced it would be fining Markus Jooste R475-million and pursuing a criminal case against him, followed shortly by Jooste’s suicide, the regulator says it will be full steam ahead for the Steinhoff investigation.

“The investigation will continue as there are other investigated parties involved. The FSCA will also continue to assist the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with any investigations they may have underway,” the regulator said. As the penalty on the late Mr Jooste in his personal capacity was already imposed at the time of his death, his passing does not impact the penalty. The FSCA is legally entitled to recover the penalty from the estate of the late Mr Jooste, but has not yet decided whether it will do so.

On Wednesday, 20 March 2024, the FSCA issued a penalty of R475-million to Jooste. The punitive administrative penalty came on the heels of a thorough investigation into Jooste and Steinhoff’s former European finance chief, Dirk Schreiber, which found that the two made or published false, misleading, or deceptive statements about Steinhoff International Holdings Limited and Steinhoff International Holdings NV, which they knew or ought reasonably to have known were false, misleading, or deceptive.

The FSCA found that by so doing, the two contravened sections 81A and B of the Financial Markets Act. The FSCA confirmed on Friday afternoon that further investigations into similar contraventions by other individuals are ongoing. DM