Another blow for Jooste's alleged former lover's finances after SARB secures R42m forfeiture order

JOHANNESBURG - Markus Jooste’s alleged former lover Berdine Odendaal has suffered another blow after the Reserve Bank secured a forfeiture order worth more than R42 million. 

Odendaal is believed to be a beneficiary of complex accounting fraud at Steinhoff in what’s now been labelled as the biggest corporate scandal on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. 

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The latest move by the central bank is part of a bid to crack down on exchange control violations. 

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor of the Prudential Cluster Fundi Tshazibana has written to Odendaal notifying the 40-year-old of the central bank’s decision to forfeit to the state millions of rands in her bank accounts. 

This includes about R38.9 million held two separate Absa accounts, as well as any interest. The remainder of the funds forfeited to the state are held in accounts at Capitec and Standard Bank. 

Odendaal’s bank accounts were frozen in 2021 after the central bank raised some suspicion about R60 million in loans from a company linked to the late Steinhoff CEO. 

The Reserve Bank suspects Jooste and Steinhoff flouted the Exchange Controls Act when the money was wired from abroad. 

Odendaal’s lavish R18 million property at the exclusive Val die Vie Estate in the Western Cape is also part of the forfeiture order. 

Earlier this month, Odendaal applied for leave to appeal before the Supreme Court of Appeal in a bid to access some of the funds to cover her living expenses.