Israel Police's International Investigations Department has placed Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz under house arrest after questioning him on suspicion of involvement in an international affair involving giving bribes to Guinea's president and his wife. Steinmetz has deposited guarantees worth NIS 100 million. He will remain under house arrest until at least January 2 and is prohibited from contacting anybody involved in the affair.
The Israeli businessman who spends most of his time abroad is suspected, along with others, of bribing President Alpha Conde of Guinea and his wife, with tens of millions of dollars, in exchange for promoting his mining operations worth hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. Steinmetz is also suspected of money laundering.
Adv. Yuval Sasson, who represents Steinmetz and his company BSGR, said, "The current proceedings are a repeat of an old process led by the Guinea government since the rise to power of its corrupt president Alpha Conde with the aim of illegally seizing the mining rights of BSGR. This is an ongoing and groundless attempt to camouflage his corrupt actions with the aim of illegally seizing assets."
The investigation is being jointly conducted by enforcement agencies in the US, Switzerland, Guinea and Israel as part of international efforts led by the OECD against the bribery of public officials worldwide. The investigation is being carried out in coordination with the Tel Aviv District State Attorney (taxation and economics) and the State Attorney.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 19, 2016
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