Pretoria – The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday granted 49-year-old Andries Benjamin La Grange, the former Chief Financial Officer of Steinhoff, bail of R150 000.
Earlier this year on 25 March 2024 the court granted La Grange’s co-accused, 64-year-old Stephanus Johannes Grobler, the former Director of Steinhoff, bail of R150 000.
The accused pair face several charges that include racketeering, three counts of fraud involving R21 billion, manipulation of financial statements, and failure to report fraudulent activities.
Steinhoff was a multinational holding company listed in Germany and South Africa that was officially liquidated on 13 October 2023.
Steinhoff’s holdings were in the retail sector primarily in furniture and household goods and included a 43,8% stake in the South Africa Pepker group.
Allegations are that between 2014 and 2016, the then Chief Executive Officer, Markus Johannes Jooste, who is now deceased, and the two accused persons conducted racketeering activities within the Steinhoff group, as it was captured by certain executive employees.
During that period, it is alleged that Jooste played a major role in the management of the criminal enterprise.
Furthermore, it is alleged that the two created documentation of transactions that supported the fraudulent transactions used to inflate and falsify the annual financial statement of the Steinhoff Group.
On Wednesday, La Grange told the court, through an affidavit, that he intended to plead not guilty to the charges.
La Grange further asked the court to release him on bail.
The State did not oppose his bail application because he was not a flight risk.
However, the state asked the court to impose stringent bail conditions.
Magistrate Nicca Setshogoe granted Le Grange bail of R150 000 with conditions that included:
- He should report to Sandton police station between 06:00 and 18:00 every Monday.
- He should hand over his passport to the investigating officer and is not allowed to apply for a new one.
- He is not allowed to leave Gauteng province without informing the investigation officer.
- Must not interfere with state witnesses.
- He must notify the police officer should he change his home address.
The matter was postponed to 4 October 2024.
