The former chief financial officer of Steinhoff, Andries Benjamin la Grange, was yesterday granted bail of R150 000 after appearing in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
La Grange (49), who was arrested on Wednesday morning, appeared with former Steinhoff director Stephanus Johannes Grobler (64).
They are facing charges of racketeering, three counts of fraud worth R21 billion, manipulation of financial statements, and failure to report fraudulent activities, said Lumka Mahanjana, the National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesperson for Gauteng.
Grobler previously appeared in court in March, when he was also granted bail of R150 000. He was arrested a day after Markus Jooste committed suicide in Hermanus on 21 March.
Jooste and Grobler were officially notified to present themselves in Pretoria on 22 March to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks). They were both supposed to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for a bail hearing.
In an affidavit, La Grange told the court he intended to plead not guilty to the charges and would prove his innocence. Grobler has also said he will clear his name.
La Grange asked the court to release him on bail. The State did not oppose his bail application because he is not a flight risk but asked the court to impose stringent bail conditions.
Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe granted La Grange bail on condition that he:
- reports to the Sandton police station between 6am and 6pm every Monday;
- hands over his passport to the investigating officer and is not allowed to apply for a new one;
- does not leave Gauteng without informing the investigating officer;
- does not interfere with State witnesses; and
- notifies the investigating officer if he changes his home address.
Setshogoe postponed the matter to 4 October for the finalisation of the investigation.
In August 2022, the JSE disqualified La Grange from acting as a company director for 10 years and fined him a total of R2m.
The JSE imposed two public censures and two fines of R1m each, along with La Grange’s immediate disqualification, because he failed to fulfil his duties with the necessary care and skill.
One of the fines related to a subsidiary of Steinhoff Investment Holdings, Steinhoff at Work. The JSE found that La Grange processed a handwritten invoice for €23.5m (about R376m at the time) handed to him by Jooste in 2016, which the JSE found was fictitious.
Read: JSE fines former Steinhoff CFO a total of R2 million
Grobler was the company secretary of Steinhoff International Holdings between 1999 and 2011. He also headed the firm’s legal department, served as treasurer of the Steinhoff Group of companies, and was at one stage the managing director of Steinhoff Europe AG.
He resigned from Steinhoff in February 2018, two months after Jooste stepped down as the Steinhoff fraud was coming to light.
Following his resignation, he continued to work at Steinhoff as part of a short-term consultancy deal. This deal was suspended in August 2018.
La Grange and Grobler are the only South African Steinhoff executives to face charges relating to the accounting fraud that resulted in the retail group’s collapse in 2017.
