Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli billionaire, has been detained by police for questioning in Israel, the mining group BSG Resources said in a statement on Monday, relating to bribery allegations it described as “baseless”.
“This development is in the aftermath of ongoing and what BSGR believes to be obsolete investigations surrounding bribery and corruption against BSGR which were initiated by the Government of Guinea since Alpha Conde came to power in 2011 to expropriate its assets,” the company said. BSGR identified Mr Steinmetz as an adviser to the company, adding:
BSGR has repeatedly demonstrated that these allegations of bribery are not only baseless, but are a systematic attempt by the current Government of Guinea to cover up the endemic corruption which has blighted Guinea.
The company said it would provide updates.
The Israeli investigation concerns the same allegations that have triggered corruption probes in Guinea, Switzerland and the US.
A two-year inquiry in Guinea concluded in 2014 that BSGR, the mining arm of Mr Steinmetz’s business empire, won rights to half of the Simandou iron ore deposit in the west African nation by paying bribes. BSGR has always denied wrongdoing.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli police said they had detained an unnamed businessman in connection with a large-scale international corruption case in Guinea. Israeli police said their investigation was being done in cooperation with law enforcement authorities in the US, Switzerland, and Guinea, as part of an international effort led by the OECD against the bribing of public officials worldwide.
In Israel, criminal suspects are not normally named until they have been formally charged.
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