By: Natasha Archary

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has seized more than R60 million in assets from the alleged former mistress of Markus Jooste, Berdine Odendaal.
This follows Jooste’s apparent death by suicide on 21 March, after he was slapped with a R475 million penalty by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for manipulating the markets.
The 63-year-old allegedly inflated Steinhoff International’s profits by over R100 billion.
Jooste was accused of scamming several investors between 2011 and 2014, causing the multinational holding company, Steinhoff International which is dual-listed in Germany and South Africa to collapse.
According to the Daily Maverick, Odendaal’s bank accounts were frozen in 2021 after she had allegedly received R60 million in loans from a company linked to Jooste.
Suspicions that Odendaal was the biggest beneficiary of Jooste’s financial fraud prompted SARB to seize her bank accounts which containted an estimated R42.1 million.
A property that belonged to Odendaal in an exclusive Western Cape estate, believed to be worth R18 million was also seized.
The 40-year old alleged former mistress of Jooste sought permission from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to allow her a monthly allowance of R150 000 to maintain her living expenses.
She received monthly allowances of R150 000 from July 2021 to March 2022.
Two Absa accounts that contained R38.9 million between them, two Capitec bank accounts and one Standard Bank account which were linked to Odendaal were seized.
Markus Jooste was married to Ingrid Jooste with whom he shared three children.
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