Cape Town — Former Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste did not attend the opening of his criminal trial in Germany on Tuesday April 18, 2023. His legal team claims that he had passport problems and that he ran the risk of being arrested if he tried to leave South Africa.
Jooste is on trial in the German courts for balance sheet manipulation. Four of Steinhoff’s South African company executives are being charged – Jooste among them. One associate George Evans was told to pay an admission of guilt penalty of €30,000 (R600,000) to end his involvement in the case.
Jooste claims that a 2017 agreement was made with South African authorities, whereby he is not allowed to leave South Africa for fear of arrest, but the South African government denies any such agreement.
Jooste’s German defence team led by lawyer Bernd Groß, blamed the South African Department of Justice for preventing Jooste from attending his criminal trial in Germany this week – but this has been denied by the government, <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/markus-joostes-blame-game-sa-govt-denies-it-kept-him-away-from-german-trial-20230419"…
