Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste is dead.
Just a day after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) slapped him with a hefty R475 million administrative fine, the former CEO of Steinhoff was found dead.
The 63-year-old disgraced businessman was said to have shot himself on Human Rights Day, Thursday (21 March 2024).
The SABC reported that the unexpected tragedy occurred at night.
The FSCA had earlier indicated the Special Investigative Unit was probing Jooste.
The businessman was accused of misrepresenting Steinhoff’s financial statements published between 2014 and 2017.
On Wednesday the FSCA said: “Jooste and Dirk Schreiber made or published false, misleading, or deceptive statements about Steinhoff International Holdings Limited and Steinhoff International Holdings NV, which they knew or ought reasonably to have known were false, misleading, or deceptive”.
The FSCA imposed the fine on the sullied businessman for breaching the Financial Markets Act (FMA) in connection to his disclosure of Steinhoff International’s financial status.
Jooste had been given a month to pay the R450 million administrative penalty to the FSCA.
Police said Jooste took his life on a footpath close to his luxury mansion in the seaside town of Hermanus.
Also read: Markus Jooste Fined R475 Million For Misleading Steinhoff Finances By FSCA
Markus Jooste Fined R475 Million For Misleading Steinhoff Finances By FSCA