Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz was detained at Athens International Airport on Sunday under a warrant issued by Romanian authorities. He faces prosecution in the Balkan country for involvement in a criminal organization, among other things.
The 68-year-old was detained on Sunday, hours after arriving on a private aircraft at Athens International Airport.
Steinmetz, a multi-billionaire investor who made his fortune in diamonds, was arrested upon his arrival in Athens from Tel Aviv, despite a 2022 decision by the Greek judiciary rejecting Romania’s extradition request. Judges then ruled that his right to a fair trial in Romania would be violated and that he faced a real risk of inhumane and degrading treatment if extradited.
Following the directive of the appeals prosecutor, he was referred to the appeals council on Monday for a reevaluation of his case.
A year ago, the businessman was arrested at Larnaca Airport due to a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by Romanian authorities but was released on bail.
Beny Steinmetz’s legal battles
Steinmetz was convicted in absentia by the Romanian Supreme Court in 2020 over fraudulent land deals that took place between 2006 and 2008.
Additionally, he is embroiled in a separate legal battle in Switzerland, where he has been found guilty of corruption in a case involving exploration permits for iron ore deposits in Guinea.
Beny Steinmetz was born in 1956 in Netanya, Israel and is the fourth child of Rubin Steinmetz, a pioneer of the diamond trade. At the age of 21, after serving three years in the IDF, Steinmetz emigrated from Israel to Belgium, to the famous diamond hub, Antwerp.
In 1997, he decided to get away from Antwerp and diamonds and left Belgium to settle in Israel.
Diamond king
In 1988, he bought his first and largest diamond factory in South Africa. In the coming years, he expanded his activities to other African countries, such as Angola and Botswana. He also branched out into ventures such as mining, real estate, and capital markets. The group operates in more than 25 countries.
Steinmetz occupies an advisory role in the Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR) Board of Directors. BSGR is a natural resource company active in the fields of oil & gas, mining, metal, and power headquartered on the island of Guernsey.
Steinmetz and billionaire George Soros, once business partners, parted company in the 1990s over a Russian business deal gone sour.
He was named in 282 documents in the Panama Papers leak. This included revelations around corruption and improper business dealings in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as further details on activities in Guinea.
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