Netherlands court summons and a debt extension for Markus Jooste

The barrel sinks lower for Markus Jooste, the former CEO at Steinhoff. It has been revealed that investors in the Netherlands have been given the go-ahead to pursue legal action against the embattled Jooste.

Furthermore, in South Africa, Biz News revealed that banks have allowed Jooste until 31 March 2019 to pay back his debt that amounts to R959-million. So, where do we start?

Markus Jooste to have his day in a Netherlands court

On Wednesday, a court in Amsterdam granted VEB, the Dutch shareholder group, the rights to hold Steinhoff to account before the eyes of justice after they too, suffered from the scandalous accounting scam the retail group was running for all these years.

According to reports published in IOL News,

The Amsterdam court dismissed Steinhoff’s claim that a German court case started earlier this year should take precedence over the Dutch case. It also dismissed Steinhoff’s request to adjourn the proceedings.

Former Steinhoff chief executive, Markus Jooste, was summoned to appear before the court within three months of the ruling, the company said. Steinhoff has until November 7 to respond to the court decision.

Read – MP asks Markus Jooste if he’s “a f****** psychopath” in Parliament

The main argument, for VEB, is that they were scammed by Steinhoff, who stated false details in their 2015 and 2016 accounts and caressed them with optimistic outlooks on a year-on-year basis.

Deloitte is also being charged by VEB for misrepresenting Steinhoff’s financial books.

IOL News reported that since things came to light about Steinhoff’s fraud, the retail group has written off the value of its assets by R209.5-billion.

Read – Markus Jooste says he’s not responsible for Steinhoff collapse

Jooste gets more time to gather funds to repay banks

In a separate case, Jooste has been granted an extension by South African banks in his debt repayment agreement.

Biz News reported that Mayfair Holdings, Jooste’s investment company went into an agreement with Sanlam, Investec and the ABSA Group in March 2018 to sell off the company’s assets to repay his debt.

The sale of the assets was evaluated at about R28.4-billion and he initially had until December to repay R959-million to the banks.

Read – Markus Jooste: The shocking numbers behind the Steinhoff collapse

This was revealed in an email that was sent by Mayfair’s sole director, Stefan Potgieter, to the company’s stakeholders.

“We continue to enjoy the support of our creditors for an orderly process in the interest of all stakeholders, which might include further postponements of deadlines, if need be”, he wrote.

No new developments have come upon the sale of Mayfair’s assets. Their biggest asset is the candy-making company, Lodestone Brands.

According to Biz News, the founders of the company are minority shareholders. However, it was revealed by sources who have asked to remain unnamed that the banks, as well as the founders, are considering the purchase of the company, relieving the R959-million debt Mayfair has.

“Any suggestion that we are ot dealing with the matter in the usual manner by, for example, being unduly lenient to Mayfair is inaccurate. It is ABSA’s intention to pursue the scheme-of-agreement process, as well as any other legal remedies that may be available to it, until such time as all obligations owed by Mayfair to ABSA are fulfilled”, the bank stated.

Investec and Sanlam have also confirmed that the extension has been granted.