Former Steinhoff Director Sentenced for Fraud Exceeding R376 Million

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT NATIONAL PROSECUTING AUTHORITY (NPA) AND DIRECTORATE FOR PRIORITY CRIME INVESTIGATION (DPCI)

By Lumka Mahanjana
NPA Regional Spokesperson
Gauteng Division: Pretoria

By Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Singo
Hawks Spokesperson

The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has sentenced a former director and member of Steinhoff at Work, Iwan Peter Schelbert (63), from Paarl in the Western Cape, to five (5) years’ direct imprisonment in terms of section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977.

Schelbert was convicted of fraud involving an amount exceeding R376 million after entering into a plea and sentence agreement with the State in terms of section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Schelbert was employed as a director and member of the Steinhoff at Work Board from 1 June 2004 until 29 March 2018.

On 21 November 2016, while acting on instructions from the then Chief Financial Officer, Andries Benjamin La Grange, Schelbert generated a fraudulent invoice to TG Sources SARL, a company based in Martigny, Switzerland. Following the generation of the invoice, Stephanus Johannes Grobler and others created supporting documentation and caused payments to be effected to falsely represent that the invoice reflected a legitimate transaction between Steinhoff at Work and TG Sources SARL.

This fraudulent scheme resulted in the inflation of Steinhoff’s financial statements by more than R376 million.

The NPA and the DPCI welcome this conviction and sentence, which marks the third conviction secured in the Steinhoff matter.

This outcome demonstrates the commitment of both institutions to holding perpetrators accountable in one of the largest and most complex corporate fraud cases in South Africa’s history.

The investigation and prosecution of this matter required extensive collaboration and technical expertise due to its scale and complexity.

The case against the remaining accused, Hein Adendaal (67) and Stephanus Johannes Grobler (64), has been postponed to 06 February 2026 for further proceedings.