Steinhoff Rocked by Another Scandal After Ex-CFO Slapped With Fine

• An international retail company is in hot water for the second time in less than a month for falsifying transactions
• Former chief financial officer of Steinhoff Ben La Grange was fined and disbarred by the JSE for breaching its rule
• La Grange was slapped with a penalty of R2 million and barred from holding the office of a director for 10 years for dodgy dealings

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has slapped former Steinhoff chief financial officer Ben La Grange with a R2 million fine for breaching its rules.

He has also been barred from holding the position of director at any listed company for a decade for failing to fulfil his duties.

A News24 report states that these sanctions stem from a fake handwritten invoice that falsely inflated the company's income by more than R 376 million.

Read also

Kanye West gets away scot-free after altercation with a fan outside members-only club in Los Angeles

On Friday, the JSE said:

"There was no factual transaction or any legitimate commercial reason that support the information or the calculations contained in the handwritten document."

While La Grange claims that at the time, he had no knowledge that the transition was false, the JSE has criticised him for not doing enough to verify its genuinity.

Moneyweb reports that the company is still grappling to stay afloat after a December 2017 accounting fraud scandal that resulted in Steinhoff losing R200 billion in shareholder shares.

The JSE has in the past fined the retail company to the tune of R13.5 million for publishing false and misleading information.

Most South Africans are calling for harsher sanctions that fit the crime.

Court gives greenlight for R24 billion Steinhoff settlement

Read also

DJ Cleo finally pays gospel star Bucy Radebe royalties due for hit song 'Gcina Impilo Yam'

Staying with news on Steinhoff Briefly News reported that the Western Cape High Court has finally reached a decision in the Steinhoff accounting scandal.

As a result, the company has to pay a settlement of R24 billion, which will be divided among various shareholders.

The settlement will come from funds recovered by Steinhoff and the revenue from selling some of their companies, such as PEP.

Reactions to Steinhoff's settlement

@thapedi_fab said:

"SA's largest corporate fraud and still no orange overalls.

@dexteraps believes:

"#Steinhoff #SteinHeist is a classical example of "white" privilege and what we deem 'white collar' Crimes . How easy it is to get away with anything if you're just not black."

Source: Briefly News