Steinhoff International was the largest corporate fraud in South African history — and one of the largest globally. It destroyed R200 billion in value, devastated the pension savings of 1.2 million government employees, and its principal architect died before ever facing a criminal court.
Steinhoff was built over decades into one of the world's largest furniture and household goods retailers. Under CEO Markus Jooste, the company operated across 30+ countries, owning brands including Pepkor (Pep, Ackermans), Conforama (France), Mattress Firm (USA), and Fantastic Holdings (Australia). By 2017, it was valued at over R300 billion on the JSE and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Chairman Christo Wiese was its largest shareholder with a personal fortune exceeding R73 billion.
The fraud centred on fictitious and irregular transactions that artificially inflated Steinhoff's revenue, profits, and asset values over a period stretching back to at least 2009. PricewaterhouseCoopers, appointed to investigate in 2017, found approximately EUR 6.5 billion (approximately R106 billion) in fictitious or irregular transactions. These involved a network of related-party entities, many off-balance-sheet, creating circular transactions to inflate revenue. The scheme was orchestrated through entities in Austria, Germany, and other European jurisdictions, involving a small group of executives and external facilitators.
On 5 December 2017, Steinhoff announced that CEO Markus Jooste had resigned with immediate effect due to "accounting irregularities." The share price collapsed from approximately R50 to under R5 within days — approximately 90%. Over R200 billion in market capitalisation was destroyed. The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), South Africa's largest pension fund managing retirement savings for 1.2 million active employees and 450,000+ pensioners, lost an estimated R20 billion. The PIC (Public Investment Corporation), which managed the GEPF assets, had held approximately 10% of Steinhoff shares. Christo Wiese personally lost approximately R59 billion.
External auditor Deloitte, which had audited Steinhoff for years, failed to detect the fraud and faced investor lawsuits. The FSCA fined Jooste R161 million for insider trading — selling shares before the public announcement. German prosecutors in Oldenburg launched a parallel criminal investigation.
A global settlement of approximately R25.5 billion (EUR 1.43 billion) was approved by Dutch courts in 2021 for various claimant groups. Criminal fraud charges were eventually brought against Jooste by the NPA. In a devastating twist, Jooste died by suicide on 16 March 2024, shooting himself at his Hermanus home on the day he was due for a court appearance. His death meant the criminal case against the principal architect of the fraud could never be completed.
Steinhoff was placed in liquidation proceedings in 2023 and delisted from the JSE and Frankfurt exchanges. The largest corporate fraud in South African history ended with its architect dead, its auditors sued, and R200 billion in value — including the retirement savings of government workers — destroyed.