Steinmetz Diamonds Beny Steinmetz FRAUD ALERT BENY STEINMETZ -identified as CC-1 in an FBI affidavit Internet
BEWARE OF BENY STEINMETZ - Swiss police raid billionaire Beny Steinmetz's home -
The Geneva home of Beny Steinmetz, the billionaire natural-resources investor who is Israel’s richest person, was raided by Swiss police, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The raid was ordered by Geneva’s public prosecutor following a request by the government of Guinea and occurred within the last two weeks, said the person, who was briefed on the matter and asked not to be identified as the investigation is confidential. No documents were taken away, the person said.
Steinmetz, 57, has a net worth of $7.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. BSG Resources Ltd., his mining company, owns a 51 percent stake in the Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea. The West African country is reviewing mining licenses including Simandou’s. In April, a U.S. grand jury investigation began into claims that bribes were paid by BSG Resources for mining rights in Guinea.
Henri Della Casa, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in Geneva, declined to comment on the raid. No one answered the phone at the public relations offices of the Geneva police. Ian Middleton, a spokesman for BSG Resources in London, declined to comment.
Geneva’s public prosecutor said last month it opened an investigation into Onyx Financial Advisors U.K. at the request of Guinea. Swiss police last month raided the Geneva offices of Onyx, a London-based company whose chief executive officer, Dag Cramer, is a director of BSG Resources.
Onyx “provided the Swiss authorities with information following a request to Switzerland by the Government of Guinea,” said in an Aug. 29 statement.
Frederic Cilins, a French citizen who says he has worked for BSG Resources in Guinea, was denied bail in July while awaiting trial on charges he interfered with the U.S. grand jury probe. He’s charged with witness tampering, obstructing a criminal investigation and destruction of evidence in a federal investigation. The witness-tampering and record-destruction charges carry maximum prison terms of 20 years.
Cilins said he was arrested after trying to stop an extortion attempt by the government’s main witness. He has pleaded not guilty.
Steinmetz amassed his fortune initially in the diamond trade, according to his personal website. Working from a base in Antwerp, Belgium, in the 1980s and 1990s, he joined forces with his brother Daniel Steinmetz to conduct business deals in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and India. Beny Steinmetz and his family moved to Geneva in 2010, according to the website.
In addition to diamonds, mining and mineral assets, the Steinmetz family also holds interests in real estate, financing and the oil and gas sector.