Steinhoff Refers Ex-CEO to Police on Suspicion of Corruption
- Markus Jooste reported to Hawks unit after retailer probe
- Steinhoff lost 85% of value after finding accounts wrongdoing
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Steinhoff International Holdings NV reported former Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste to South Africa’s anti-graft police, pinning the blame for an accounting scandal squarely on the man who built the retailer into a global force.
The owner of Mattress Firm in the U.S. and Conforama in France referred Jooste to the unit known as the Hawks on Tuesday based on its investigation into financial irregularities, acting Chairman Heather Sonn told lawmakers in Cape Town on Wednesday. The company has enough evidence to suggest the former CEO may have committed offenses that breached the country’s corruption-fighting act, she said.