When social work turns violent, it’s time to turn to short selling and Steinhoff
New York — A year before unleashing a damning report that detailed accounting irregularities at Steinhoff International, one of its authors faced a reckoning of his own. Minutes after Fraser Perring dropped off his four-year-old daughter at school in December 2016, two men with Eastern European accents trapped him in his Audi. They threatened to harm his family unless he admitted to writing extensive reports alleging wrongdoing at Wirecard [a global internet technology and financial services provider]. Frightened, and fueled with adrenaline, Perring lied. He said he had nothing to do with the reports. "It devastated me, but it made me stronger," Perring said. It was a pivotal moment in Perring’s eventual rise to hero among short sellers. In recent weeks, his research has jolted SA and established him as a force among some of the market’s most antagonistic investors, who try to expose corporate irregularities and generate massive profits, sometimes overnight. However, Perring’s run-i...
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