
Israeli police arrest tycoon suspected of bribery in Guinea
JERUSALEM — Israeli police on Monday arrested billionaire businessman Beny Steinmetz on suspicion of bribing officials in the west African country of Guinea, police said, in what appeared to be a major development in bribery investigations over mining rights to one of the world’s most important iron ore concessions.
Steinmetz, a prominent Israeli-born businessman and global player in the diamond-mining industry, is suspected in an international investigation stretching to Europe and the U.S., along with other unidentified Israeli businesspeople, of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to public officials in the Guinean capital of Conakry to promote business interests there, according to Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Israeli media reported Steinmetz is suspected of bribing the former leader of Guinea and his wife for rights to mine at the Simandou range, one of the world’s largest sources of iron ore. Israeli police would not comment on the specific bribery claim.
A mineral-rich but deeply impoverished country, Guinea has long suffered from corruption while trying to exploit its natural resources. Steinmetz’s company BSGR previously had its mining license revoked in Guinea because of corruption charges.