One cannot but assume dishonesty and skullduggery of a high order at board level in the Steinhoff-Star debacle. What is only now being unveiled to shareholders in Star (an independently-listed subsidiary of Steinhoff with its own shareholders and balance sheet) — having acquired the shares in good faith on the available published information — is "Sorry guys, we forgot to mention that Star is party to a guarantee of third-party debt related to a historic Pepkor Holdings management investment scheme, which is underpinned by the Steinhoff share price". Can anyone believe the brazenness of this revelation? Why not a squeak about this at Star’s recent investor presentation, which purportedly showed its full indebtedness to parent company Steinhoff International (posted on the Steinhoff website)? In the organogram on page 20, total Star indebtedness to Steinhoff is shown at €0.2bn. Furthermore, in March Star issued a Sens notice that the group had paid off all the outstanding loan notes....
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