Former Steinhoff CEO, Andries Benjamin la Grange, will spend five years behind bars after entering a plea with the state over his involvement in fraud at the now defunct company.
Yesterday, the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced La Grange to 10 years in jail, with five years suspended for five years on condition that he is not found guilty of fraud during this time. He also must give evidence for the state in any further criminal proceedings against directors, officers and employees of the Steinhoff group.
La Granges sentencing follows that of Gerhardus Burger, who pleaded guilty to three charges of insider trading in contravention of the Financial Markets Act on 26 September and was given a five-year suspended sentence and had to pay back the proceeds of insider trading.
The former CFO was convicted of fraud involving more than R367 million stemming from his manipulation of financial statements and failure to report fraudulent activities.
Acting on the deceased former CEO and alleged kingpin of the fraud, Markus Joostes instructions, La Grange created documentation that supported fraudulent transactions used to inflate and falsify the Steinhoff Groups annual financial statements of the Steinhoff Group for the 2016 financial year. After investigations by the JSE, La Grange was fined R2m for the role he played in the Steinhoff At Work transactions and was barred from holding office in a public company for 10 years.
