Greek Supreme Court scraps mining magnate’s Romania extradition
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Greece’s Supreme Court on Wednesday scrapped the planned extradition to Romania of French-Israeli mining magnate Beny Steinmetz to serve a prison sentence, the state Athens News Agency said.
Steinmetz had lodged an appeal against the extradition, arguing that his sentencing was motivated by anti-Semitism and political motives.
His lawyer did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The Supreme Court ruling overturned a prior decision by an Athens appeals court in January.
Steinmetz had been held on arrival at Athens airport in October in connection to a warrant issued over a five-year prison sentence imposed by a Romanian court.
The court in Brasov had sentenced Steinmetz in absentia to five years in jail in 2020 for setting up “an organised criminal group” in a series of land deals between 2006 and 2008 that cost Romania an estimated 135 million euros ($146 million).
Steinmetz has faced legal woes in multiple countries. He had previously been held in Athens in 2022 and later released.
The mining tycoon was found guilty by a Geneva appeals court in April 2023 of paying bribes to Guinean officials to secure mining rights in the southeastern Simandou region, which is estimated to contain one of the world’s biggest untapped iron ore deposits.
Steinmetz, who made his fortune in diamonds, was found to have set up a complex financial web to pay bribes to ensure his company could obtain permits.
Source: AFP
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
