Steinhoff insider pleads guilty to all charges

Another suspect arrested on Thursday morning in the ongoing investigation into the Steinhoff insider trading case has pleaded guilty to all three charges. 

79-year-old Gerhardus Burger appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Crimes Court. He was charged with three counts of contravening the Financial Markets Act.

He was subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment, suspended for five years on condition that he does not commit the same crime in that period.

The court has also ordered that the monies accrued from the sale of the shares be forfeited to the state. 

Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale says, “The arrest emanates from an ongoing investigation into Steinhoff, where in November 2017, the then Chief Executive Officer, the late Markus Jooste, is said to have shared information on the selling of Steinhoff shares before they fell. Allegations are that the suspect received a tip-off from Jooste in order to sell his shares before their price dropped due to irregularities in the Steinhoff financial statements. The suspect in 2017 instructed that over 39 000 of Steinhoff shares be sold.” 

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