Israeli billionaire who’s also investigated in Romania, arrested

The Israeli Police held Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz for questioning in a corruption investigation launched by the Guinean Government, according to an announcement of his company BSG Resources (BSGR), one of the most important shareholders in the Rosia Montana gold mining project, according to Reuters. “This situation is a result of ongoing investigations on charges and corruption, which BSGR considers outdated,” according to a company’s press release. The company states that the investigation was initiated by the Government of Guinea and international police organizations in the US, UK, and Switzerland. BSGR says that Beny Steinmetz is a consultant within the company. According to the case, Steinmetz and other Israelis, most of them living abroad, have allegedly paid tens of millions of dollars as bribery to senior officials in Guinea, in the Simandou project. Steinmetz is also being prosecuted in Romania in the case related to the illegal restitution of the Baneasa farm and 47 hectares of land in the Snagov forest. He was sent to court by the Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors (DNA) in May this year, alongside Romanian investor Remus Truica, Prince Paul of Romania, and 20 other people, for causing a EUR 145 million damage to the state. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Beny-steinmetz.com)