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Bloomberg
Steinhoff International Holdings NV ex-Chief Financial Officer Ben La Grange blamed departed leader Markus Jooste and auditors including Deloitte LLP for the retailer’s accounting scandal, saying he became aware of any wrongdoing only days before the crisis erupted.
In his first public comments since being suspended by the company, La Grange said Steinhoff’s financials were corrupted by third-party transactions connected to Jooste and inflated profit contributions from various parts of the business.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong,†he told South African lawmakers in Cape Town.
La Grange was speaking alongside current Steinhoff executives Heather Sonn and Louis du Preez, who were updating parliament on the ongoing process of rescuing the retailer. The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the US reported accounting irregularities on December 5, wiping billions of dollars off its market value. Jooste quit as chief executive officer the same day, and has been referred by Steinhoff to a local police unit.
The former CEO — who has yet to give his side of the story — limited what he shared with La Grange and the duo weren’t close, according to the ex-CFO. “We were not friends or socialised outside a business environment,†he said. The first La Grange knew of the accounting wrongdoing was on December 3, after Deloitte told Steinhoff it couldn’t sign off on financials for the year through September, he said.