Markus Jooste, the former CEO of Steinhoff International Holdings Limited, has passed away. The detail around Jooste’s death are still sketchy.
According to sources close to Jooste’s investigation, the high-ranking business executive is said to have shot himself on Thursday afternoon and died on the spot when he was about to be arrested.
He died at the age of 63 and is survived by his wife Ingrid Jooste and their three children.
Jooste’s death comes a day after he was slapped with an enormous R475-million fine by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) on Wednesday.
The fine was imposed after a careful examination of Jooste’s activities between 2014 and 2017 that uncovered gross infractions of financial market laws.
Penalty reasonable
According to the FSCA, the watchdog found the penalty reasonable for Jooste after it considered, among other factors, the need to deter similar behaviour in the market; the amounts of the losses experienced by the market; Jooste’s level of cooperation during the investigation; the nature, duration, extent, and seriousness of the contraventions.
“The extent of any financial or commercial benefit to Mr Jooste; previous contraventions of financial sector laws [insider trading and the contravention of the JSE’s listing requirements]; the effect of Mr Jooste’s conduct on the financial system and financial stability; the effect of the proposed penalty on financial stability; the extent to which the conduct was deliberate or reckless; and Mr Jooste’s submissions regarding the merits of the case against him, including his submissions regarding an appropriate penalty,” FSCA said revealed.
Pattern of misleading statements
According to the financial watchdog, an investigation unearthed a pattern of false, misleading, and deceptive statements made by Jooste and his associate, Dirk Schreiber, regarding Steinhoff International Holdings Limited and Steinhoff International Holdings NV.
Notably, Jooste’s counterpart, Schreiber, received leniency from the FSCA due to his extensive cooperation with the investigation.
Although found to have contravened the same sections of the Financial Markets Act, Schreiber will not face an administrative penalty, underscoring the significance of cooperation in regulatory proceedings.
The penalty imposed on Jooste comprises not only the substantial sum of R475-million but also a contribution of R10-million to reimburse the FSCA for investigation costs.
- This is a developing story
