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Disgraced former chief executive of Steinhoff Markus Jooste has reportedly shot himself shortly after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority revealed that it was fining him a whopping R475 million and that it planned to pursue a criminal case.

Jooste reportedly shot himself at Kwaaiwater beach in Hermanus.

SAPS has confirmed that Hermanus police opened a docket relating to a shooting incident between 14:40 and 15:20 on Thursday – but the police did not name the individual in question.

According to Daily Maverick, an eyewitness said the incident happened outside his home. Emergency personnel had been called to the scene, attached drips with fluid and carried Jooste with a heavily bandaged head on a stretcher to an ambulance, the witness said.

“Our members were called out to a scene at a beach in Hermanus, where a 63-year-old man has succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head,” said Lt-Col Malcolm Pojie. “He was still alive at the time; he was transported to the hospital, and he succumbed a few minutes after arrival at the hospital.”

“No foul play is suspected at this time,” Pojie added.

His death comes a day after being informed that he had to pay a R475 million administrative penalty to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) on or before Friday, 19 April 2024 – giving him less than a month to come up with the funds.

Court proceedings in both South Africa and Germany had identified him as one of several directors who were behind the collapse of Steinhoff. Jooste has been accused of several crimes, including fraud and insider trading, since the FSCA began its investigation into Jooste at the end of 2022.

Jooste allegedly tipped off executives to sell their shares in Steinhoff ahead of the company’s downfall.

Even during the FSCA hearings, Jooste maintained that he knew nothing of the ‘irregularities’ as Steinhoff.

“He persisted that there were no financial irregularities that he was aware of or participated in. To that extent, he complied with the notice to attend, but failed to provide all answers and information relevant to the investigation in a cooperative manner,” the FSCA said in its signed penalty order.

In the years before Steinhoff went kaput, the company and Jooste were the toast of the JSE with Jooste having developed a ‘near-mythical reputation of a seminal businessman with the Midas touch’.

[source:dm&mybroadband]