Steinhoff Reports Former CEO To Police After Finding “Evidence Of Transgressions”
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Wed, 01/31/2018
The number of parallels between the Steinhoff’s “accounting-irregularities” scandal and the collapse of Enron just keep growing.
As the Financial Times reported today, the global retail conglomerate, which is embroiled in one of South Africa’s largest-ever accounting scandals, and even ensnared the ECB which bought Steinhoff bonds only to liquidate them a few months later when the company was downgraded to deep junk, has referred its former chief executive to the police.
Steinhoff acting chairwoman Heather Sonn told South Africa’s MPs on Wednesday that Markus Jooste – who resigned late last year after the company’s auditor refused to sign off on its 2017 earnings, bringing the accounting “irregularities” to light – has been referred to the Hawks, the country’s elite anti-corruption unit.
“The matter is now in the hands of the Hawks for further investigation and prosecution,” Sonn said, adding that the company acted after finding evidence of transgressions” by Mr Jooste.
Per Bloomberg, Steinhoff still doesn’t know – or at least, has not publicly disclosed – the origin of its faulty accounting practices, and is conducting its probe as quickly as possible, Sonn said.
Sonn is appearing at a hearing called by three parliamentary sub-committees to learn more about the crisis and the company’s investigation. Ex-chairman and biggest shareholder Christo Wiese also gave evidence, the billionaire’s first public outing since the start of the crisis. He described news of the wrongdoing as a “bolt from the blue.”
The Rest…HERE
