Steinhoff’s Wiese payments did not follow proper processes
Steinhoff International said on Tuesday two 2017 payments to former chair and biggest shareholder Christo Wiese didn’t follow proper governance and disclosure processes, dragging the billionaire deeper into an accounting crisis. The deals were agreed to with entities related to Wiese in the weeks leading up to the emergence of financial irregularities that have wiped more than 90% off the value of the global retailer. Steinhoff has investigated the payments and is in the process of being reimbursed, it said in a statement on Tuesday, without giving further detail on the transactions. Wiese said by phone that he would comment later in the day. The stock plunged as much as 25% to €0.15 in Frankfurt, a fresh low since the owner of Conforama in France and Poundland in the UK relocated its primary listing from Johannesburg in 2015. Wiese has so far distanced himself from the crisis that’s engulfed Steinhoff, which he bought into when he sold his pan-African retailer Pepkor to the company...
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