Nicola Mawson Through using 21 different financial terms such as marketing contributions, professional fees, rebates, retail concepts, and rent, rates and services, Steinhoff helped poorly performing business units either inflate revenue or reduce cost. This, a comprehensive PwC investigation showed, had been ongoing for, in some cases, 10 years. PwC's probe, a copy of which is in Business Report 's possession, was the result of Steinhoff's auditors, Deloitte, flagging accounting irregularities in 2017. The news of what has become known as South Africa's largest in the business world resulted in Steinhoff losing 97% of its market capitalisation between August 2017 and March 2019 as investors reacted to the news. Overall, PwC found that €6.5 billion – or R125bn – artificially went through Steinhoff's books between 2009 and 2017 when the lid was on what is South Africa's biggest corporate scandal to date was blown.