Overview
- Schelbert, 63, was handed five years’ direct imprisonment by the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on 16 January 2026 after a plea-and-sentence agreement.
- He generated a fraudulent invoice to Switzerland-based TG Sources SARL on 21 November 2016 on instructions from then CFO Andries Benjamin la Grange, with supporting documents later created to disguise the transaction.
- The scheme inflated Steinhoff at Work’s financial statements by more than R376 million, according to the National Prosecuting Authority.
- The sentence marks the third secured prosecution tied to the Steinhoff scandal, following la Grange’s 10-year sentence in October 2024 and a 2024 insider‑trading conviction of Gerhardus Diedricks Burger.
- Cases against remaining accused Hein Odendaal and Stephanus Johannes Grobler were postponed to 6 February 2026 as authorities continue broader investigations into the multibillion-euro accounting fraud revealed in 2017.