Yesterday I got to interview both external trustees in Silveroak, the Jooste family trust (Markus Jooste’s son Michael is the other one). A recording of the chat with Gary Harlow of Unihold and Wildekrans fame is available by clicking here. The one with Rian du Plessis, formerly of RMB, Comparex and Phumelela will be posted later today.
Until having sight of the court papers, deciphering the facts by reporters who had, wasn’t easy. The Anton Pillar order granted by the High Court to the SA Reserve Bank, and Tuesday’s surprise raid of Casa Jooste (and Lanzerac wine estate) is a complex matter. Having listened to the trustees, however, it’s clear this is only the start.
The Jooste-owned motor vehicles, art, furniture and Mrs J’s jewellery have not been snatched by the authorities. Neither has the family been ejected from their home. Rather, the court order allowed investigators to mirror data on Jooste’s hard drives, servers and other devices. And confirm existence of his moveable assets – which now cannot be sold.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___In court papers, the SARB provided details of three major exchange control frauds which it says resulted in deliberately inflating Steinhoff’s profits to generate Jooste’s bonuses in March (R23m) and May (R7.4m) of 2017. One of them, involving Brait shares, overstated Steinhoff profits by a cool R1.3bn. If the SARB proves its case, Jooste’s assets will indeed be removed. Until then, occupants of the Hermanus hidey hole will sleep in the same beds.
More for you to read today:
- Netflix stocks surge with return to growth, saying the worst of slowdown is over. Netflix Inc. is growing again, and investors can breathe a sigh of relief.
- UK corporate bond selloff is one for the books. Inflation, rising interest rates and politics spell trouble for U.K. corporate debt.
- US stocks pricing recession more than any other asset. US equities are pricing in the highest odds of a recession of any other asset class.
- Russia’s top Ukraine commander sees invasion faltering in the south, but missile strikes take toll on Ukraine. Ukrainian power infrastructure takes heavy damage.
- Gupta favoured property investment hub, Dubai, is cashing in on global slowdown. The emirate’s property boom is attracting a wild assortment of super-rich buyers.
- Watch: SA scientific ingenuity + US capital = ASP Isotope
SA businessman Gary Harlow, named in High Court papers which sanctioned yesterday’s seizure of Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste’s assets, says he will help the authorities in anyway possible. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews, Harlow explains how shortly after the Steinhoff implosion in 2017 he agreed to become a trustee of Silveroak, Jooste’s family trust. He also unpacks the history of his relationship with SA’s biggest corporate fraudster – and shares what happened at Silveroak during the past four years of his trusteeship. On the record: Markus Jooste’s trustee opens up on SARB’s R4.8bn asset raid
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