Markus Braun, the Austrian tech entrepreneur who built Wirecard into one of Germany’s biggest companies, was arrested this week after a $2.1bn accountancy scandal. News broke on 18 June of the missing funds and his arrest followed quickly, on the 23rd.
Back on local shores, Markus Jooste, former CEO of Steinhoff, hasn’t seen the inside of a jail cell, yet he oversaw an accountancy scandal that wiped $9.16bn off Steinhoff’s market value in a few weeks back in December 2017.
It’s a contrast that has many scratching their heads as to why, on the surface of it, the wheels of justice grind too slowly on the southern tip of Africa. Let’s hope the #VBS7 arrests are the catalyst SA’s justice flywheel needs to start putting all those who’ve contributed to bringing the country to her knees in a 6-by-9.
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