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PricewaterhouseCoopers Report Into Steinhoff – Quick Summary

You probably do not have time to read the 3000 page PwC report into SA founded furniture giant Steinhoff (along with its 4000 document annexures) so, we thought we could give you a quick summary of the report into the skullduggery that was going on at Steinhoff for years.

The report reveals that one of the top Executives, who used to work for the company (a bunch resigned as the house of cards began to fall) told other execs to mess with the figures and engage in a bunch of dodgy transactions. None of these Executives now work for Steinhoff as it stands today but they were up to this nonsense for over a decade at least. The firm has stated that it intends to take legal action against these people.

Third party firms were used in these dodgy transactions. These firms often had similar sounding names or changed names which further confused investors and investigators. Some of the main culprits were Talgarth Group, TG Group and Campion Group also known as Fulcrum Group.

‘The extent of the fraud currently identified seems to amount to well over R100 Billion’

The report reveals that the executives managed to inflate profits to make the company’s stock appear more appealing to investors. The extent of the fraud currently identified seems to amount to well over R100 Billion.

The fall out from the December 2017 collapse of the furniture giant is still ongoing with share prices now being lower than when they first listed on the stock exchanges. Due to the stock being a popular choice for so many investors the sudden drop wiped out hundreds of thousands of consumers (if not more) built up pension savings and investments. The collapse sparked a massive asset sale within the group to try to stay afloat and threatens the many brands which fall under the Steinhoff umbrella. Many of the brands have already been forced to start closing their doors around the world.