Israel: Criminal charges against billionaire Beny Steinmetz dropped

Franco-Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz in Geneva, September 6, 2022 (Illustration image).

© SALVATORE DI NOLFI/AP

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All criminal charges in Israel against the Franco-Israeli billionaire have been dropped, the Israeli prosecutor's office said.

At the head of the BSGR group of mining resources, Beny Steinmetz was arrested in August 2017 for money laundering and quickly released.

However, he still has to deal with justice in other countries.

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem

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The agreement signed with Beny Steinmetz stipulates that a sum of nearly 5 million euros deducted from his assets will be confiscated by IMPA, the Israeli agency for the fight against money laundering.

This puts an end, says a spokesperson for this organization, to the dispute with Beny Steinmetz, one of the largest fortunes in the country.

For his lawyers, this agreement demonstrates that the allegations against their client are baseless.

But Steinmez is still awaiting a decision in an appeal trial in Switzerland.

He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and to the payment of 50 million Swiss francs for corruption of public officials in Guinea.

He was accused of having paid around $10 million to the fourth wife of former Guinean President Lansana Conté to obtain mining rights.

He was also sentenced in absentia to 5 years in prison in Romania, this time for creating an organized criminal group.

►Also read: Guinean mines: billionaire Beny Steinmetz plays his future against Swiss justice

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