Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste, was reported to have died by South African police on Thursday March 22, 2024.
His death has prompted the registration of an inquest case docket, according to the police.
Jooste was fined heavily on Wednesday for accounting fraud. Jooste played a key role in turning Steinhoff from a tiny Johannesburg furniture company into a global retailer.
Referring to a neighborhood of the seaside town of Hermanus close, “It is alleged that the victim sustained a gunshot wound at around 1520 at Kwaaiwater and succumbed to death on his way to hospital,” Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut said in a statement.
According to South African television Newzroom Afrika, Jooste shot himself while being arrested, citing sources. People with knowledge of the situation told the Financial Times that Jooste had died from a gunshot wound.
For producing fraudulent and misleading Steinhoff annual financial statements and annual reports for the years 2014 to 2016 as well as the 2017 half-year, Jooste was fined 475 million rand ($25.2 million) by South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority on Wednesday.
The retail conglomerate, which owns the bulk of discount stores Pepkor (PPHJ.J) in South Africa and Europe, opened fresh accounts after Steinhoff disclosed irregularities in December 2017, the first indication of an accounting scam that caused the company to nearly collapse.
He was 63 and is survived by his wife Ingrid Jooste and 3 children.
