Businessman Benny Steinmetz was convicted in Switzerland of bribery amounting to more than $ 10 million

Businessman Benny Steinmetz was convicted tonight (Friday) in Switzerland of bribery and fraud against the banks amounting to more than $ 10 million, in order to take over mining rights for iron ore in Guinea worth $ 5 billion. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined 50 million francs. It will be recalled that last December the Romanian Supreme Court convicted Steinmetz and senior strategist Tal Zilberstein in a land-related corruption case in the country amounting to 136 million euros, thus turning a decision in their favor made in a lower court.
The verdict from today was handed down by a panel of three Geneva criminal court judges, headed by President Alexandra Bana. This is the first indictment filed in Switzerland for bribery of a foreign public servant. Steinmetz will be able to appeal the decision to a higher court, similar to a district court in Israel.
With Steinmetz, Frederick Silins, the former controlling shareholder of Pantler, was also convicted, which according to the Swiss indictment served as a conduit for the transfer of bribe money. Cillins was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and fined 5.5 million Swiss francs.
The other defendant, Belgian citizen Sandra Marloni Hormans, a former senior member of the BSGR mining group, was also convicted. Hormans was sentenced to two years probation and a fine of 50,000 Swiss francs.
According to the indictment, Steinmetz transferred the bribe money to Madi Torre, the wife of former Guinean president Lansa Conte, who died, between 2006-2011. This is done through a number of straw men and straw companies. The engagement was disguised, according to the indictment, in fictitious consulting contracts.
Independent journalist Anise Faber, who covers the trial from the Geneva courtroom for a number of media outlets around the world, including Calcalist, reports that the trial, which opened last week, ended on Monday. This was after it was finally clarified that from the list of 11 witnesses summoned by the prosecution to the trial, including four Israelis, no one would come, some due to what was defined as "medical circumstances." For example, one of the witnesses who did enter Switzerland according to the authorities' records, was not in the hotel he was supposed to stay in, and the police in Geneva did not locate him.
As is customary in the Swiss legal system, the prosecution submitted the witnesses' investigations as evidence, including the testimony of the person who according to the indictment was the target of the bribe money - from Madi Torre, as stated the ex-wife of Guinean president Lansa Conte who died.
The verdict was given based on the evidence presented, including consulting contracts, money transfers and also transcripts of recordings, without the defense being allowed to cross-examine the witnesses.
The verdict was given based on the evidence presented, including consulting contracts, money transfers and also transcripts of recordings, without the defense being allowed to cross-examine the witnesses.
Following the decision of the court in Geneva, Steinmetz said: "The ruling is completely contrary to the rules of international law, it is not final and as such I will appeal it immediately. The decision does not reflect the things revealed during the six days of hearings: there is no agreement or act of corruption. In this case there are only witnesses who lied and bribed, witnesses who paid them for lying, who did not respond to their summons to court and could not be questioned in a cross-examination.
"I condemn and protest a decade of manipulation and lies, an investigation conducted in violation of the rights of defense by the Scottish prosecutor. I also and especially condemn the actions and influence of George Soros who acts corruptly and refused his attempt to blackmail me. It is firm and absolutely certain that justice will be served. "