Three former managers linked to the Steinhoff accounting fraud case have been granted more relaxed bail conditions by the Pretoria Commercial Specialised Crimes Court, after the state requested four months to prepare for the trial.
Former Steinhoff executive director Stephanus Grobler, the group’s former audit executive Hein Odendaal, and Steinhoff At Work MD Iwan Peter Schelbert appeared in court on Friday and requested their bail conditions be amended.
Schelbert and Odendaal were added to the case in February and face fraud charges related to the manipulation of financial statements which led to the fall of the multinational company.
“The court grants the application in respect of relaxing the bail conditions for reporting for each of the accused,” magistrate Nicca Setshogoe said.
The accused were expected to report to police stations every week originally, after the state argued for stringent bail conditions. In the amended bail conditions, all three accused will report to their police stations every second week.
In court, state prosecutor advocate Dries van Rensburg requested the case be postponed so investigations could be finalised. Setshogoe granted the postponement of four months and the accused are expected back in court September 3.
The trial against the three accused will put a spotlight on the alleged fraud that took place at the collapsed Steinhoff during the tenure of former CEO Markus Jooste.
Steinhoff was liquidated in October 2023 because of debt and major accounting irregularities.
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