Steinhoff CEO Pays Share-Backed Loan Taken Days Before Fall

Steinhoff International Holdings NV said acting Chief Executive Officer Danie van der Merwe repaid a 26.4 million-rand ($2.1-million) loan backed by company shares that he took out a week before the retailer’s stock collapsed because of an accounting scandal. The timing of the loan raises questions about how much Van der Merwe knew about the financial malpractice that has brought the company to the brink of collapse. Acting Chairwoman Heather Sonn told investors last month that any current executive would quit if they were implicated in any wrongdoing, while Steinhoff is the subject of legal claims including a 59 billion rand lawsuit by former biggest shareholder Christo Wiese, who also served as chairman of the company.