Another of the guys mucking about in Africa that make you want to count your fingers after you shake hands (post-covid: bump forearms)
From Reuters, December 5:
Exclusive: Steinmetz to appear at Geneva trial next month to face corruption charges - lawyer
Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz will appear in a Geneva court next month to defend himself against corruption and forgery charges in connection with mining contracts in Guinea, his lawyer told Reuters.
Steinmetz was indicted in August 2019 by a Geneva prosecutor who accused him and two aides of paying or having $10 million in bribes paid to one of the wives of former Guinean President Lansana Conte for mining licences between 2005 and 2010.
“There are two charges, corruption and forgery. Both are categorically contested. The charges have no basis in fact or in law,” Marc Bonnant, a prominent Geneva lawyer representing Steinmetz, told Reuters on Friday.
The lawyer questioned whether the late Conte was married to Mamadie Toure, named as a spouse of the late president in the indictment, during that time. Reuters attempted to contact Toure through social media, but she could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Beny Steinmetz never paid a cent to Mme. Mamadie Toure. Mamadie Toure was not the wife of the president (Lansana Conte) and she is not a public agent and therefore cannot be corrupted,” Bonnant said....
....MUCH MORE
