Israeli businessman’s corruption appeal to begin in Geneva

Marc Bonnant (right), former lawyer for Beny Steinmetz (left), answers questions from journalists after leaving a Geneva courthouse in January 2021 Keystone / Martial Trezzini

A Geneva court will on Monday begin hearing the appeal of Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz against his conviction for corruption and forgery over his pursuit of iron ore deposits in Africa.

Steinmetz has consistently denied the charges for which he was sentenced to five years in jail and fined CHF50 million ($51.5 million) by a Swiss criminal court in 2021. He filed an appeal and has not served any time in jail.

In its ruling, the court found Steinmetz and two others paid, or arranged payment, of $8.5 million in bribes between 2006 and 2012 to one of the wives of former Guinea president Lansana Conté to obtain exploration permits for iron ore buried beneath the Simandou mountains.

Conté died in 2008. The Guinean government, which was by then a different administration, made no comment at the time of the ruling.

Central to Steinmetz’s defence was his assertion that he was not involved in the day-to-day running of BSGR (Beny Steinmetz Group Resources), the mining arm of his businesses that went into administration in 2018.

Untapped discovery

Steinmetz, 66, a former Geneva resident who moved back to Israel in 2016 and has in the past been ranked as a billionaire, is expected to appear in court on Monday, one of his lawyers said in an email.

The court hearing is expected to last until September 7, the Geneva criminal appeal court said in an email.

Simandou, in Guinea’s southeastern corner, is the largest known iron ore deposit of its kind, which analysts estimate holds more than two billion tonnes of high-grade ore, but legal disputes and the cost of building infrastructure mean it is untapped nearly three decades after its discovery.