First sentence in Steinhoff case as doctor pleads guilty to insider trading

The Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court on Thursday sentenced a former Steinhoff physician, Dr Gerhardus Diedricks Burger, to five years' imprisonment for insider trading. 

The sentence was wholly suspended for five years on condition Burger, 79, is not convicted of contravening section 78(2) of the Financial Markets Act during the period of suspension.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Burger also has to testify in the criminal proceedings against his accomplices. 

“The court issued a confiscation order for €90,000 (about R1.8m) seized by Swiss authorities after the collapse of Steinhoff.  This is after Dr Burger pleaded guilty to three counts of insider trading and was convicted of such when he appeared in court,” NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said. 

 She said shortly before the collapse of Steinhoff its CEO, the late Markus Jooste, sent Burger a text message advising him to sell his Steinhoff shares.  

“Dr Burger thereafter sold all the Steinhoff shares held under the Dieter Burger and Lane Burger Trusts in which his children are beneficiaries. He also sold 39,722 Steinhoff shares held at Stefana Overseas Ltd, where Dr Burger was also the beneficiary, on the Swiss stock exchange,” she said. 

Shortly after the sale of the shares, Steinhoff shares plummeted and became almost worthless.  

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) instituted investigations in which Burger was convicted and found guilty of insider trading for the same transactions and paid a penalty of R3m to the FSCA.  

FSCA then referred the matter to the NPA for criminal prosecution.  

Mahanjana said the Steinhoff matter, one of the biggest cases of corporate fraud in the history of South Africa, had been one of the most complex commercial crime cases that the Hawks and the NPA had to deal with.  

“At a point when a significant breakthrough was made to enrol the case earlier this year, the main accused, ex-CEO of Steinhoff Markus Jooste, took his life on the eve of his arrest, thus escaping the hands of justice when it mattered most.” 

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