Reserve Bank seizes former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s assets – this is what they took
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has seized assets belonging to former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste.
This comes five years after severe financial misconduct at global holding company Steinhoff International became one of South Africa’s largest corporate scandals.
The financial maladministration and fraud ultimately led to a 95% crash in Steinhoff’s value on the JSE when the scandal broke, contributing to a massive loss in the value of pensions that were held in the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
A PwC audit on the company showed that former executives, including Jooste, inflated the profits of the company as well as the value of its assets. PwC further found that the fraud amounted to over R100 billion as executives used irregular fictitious transactions to their benefit in collaboration with third-party companies.
According to Bloomberg, the latest move by SARB represents a potential advance in the painstaking process of bringing charges against the former CEO, who numerous legal authorities and regulatory probes and lawsuits have pointed to as the mastermind behind the accounting scandal.
Court documents publically sourced from the SARB relating to the attachment of his assets revealed that some of the following assets were looked into:
- Silveroak Trust – including art to the value of R98 million, other financial assets worth R1 billion, loans to the value of R130 million and movable assets.
- Hermanus residence and property – including 5 different vehicles: a Mercedes Benz SL600, a Land Rover Defender 110, a white Lexus LX570, an Isuzu KB 300TDI, and Volkswagen Kombi VN 750.
- Stellenbosch Wine Estate – named Lanzerac and home to premium wines reaching upwards of R1,200 a bottle for a 2017 Keldermeester Versameling Prof.
- Personal effects – including jewellery, paintings and firearms amounting to R795,400.
Under section 10.2.5 of the order, all movable goods of any nature of or to which Jooste is a beneficial owner, excluding clothing and foodstuff, are also attached. The court noted that such goods would not be removed from the property but photographed and inventoried.
The Reserve Bank further investigated and seized crucial documents, both hardcopies and electronic files, including flash drives, memory sticks, CDs or external hard drives that could have crucial information.
Speaking with News24, the former chairperson of Steinhoff Christo Wiese praised the attachment of Markus Jooste’s assets, adding that “a lot of people will be grateful to see that the wheels of justice are turning.”
Lanzerac Wine Estate
Art
Jooste has reportedly, owned a number of valuable Pierneef paintings that represent South African landscapes; below is an example of a Peirneef, Sleepy Town in the Cape, 1929:
Cars
Note: Actual images of the cars could not be uncovered; for this reason, the pictures below are illustrative of the models represented. The vehicles listed by the order may indicate older versions of the cars presented.
Land Rover Defender 110 – realisable value R350,000
Lexus LX570 – realisable value of R293,600
Isuzu KB 300TDI – realisable value R81,200
Mercedes Benz SL600 – realisable value of R434,300
Volkswagen Kombi VN 750 – realisable value of R344,100
Read: SARB warns of triple blow for South Africans – including a ‘price spiral’
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