The
Guardian understands the raids were requested by the US department of justice,
which has been investigating Steinmetz's Simandou mining deal
The Guardian, Ian Cobain, Thursday 29 August 2013
 |
| BSGR's acquisition of mining concessions in Guinea, where millions live in poverty, caused widespread anger. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/ Getty Images |
Police in
Switzerland and France carried out a number of co-ordinated raids on properties
linked to one of the world's richest men as part of a global investigation into
allegations of corruption surrounding a multibillion dollar mining deal.
Officers in
Geneva raided the offices of a firm that provides management services for BSGR,
a company controlled by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz, while in France
police raided the home of a director of the management services firm. Up to 20
police raided the offices of Onyx Financial Advisors, according to a security
guard quoted by Reuters, and took away a number of documents. The Guardian
understands that the raids were mounted at the request of the US department of
justice, which has spent more than six months investigating BSGR's acquisition
of lucrative mining concessions in the former French colony of Guinea.
Steinmetz,
57, secured the rights to extract half the ore at Simandou after investing
$165m in exploration, and then sold half his stake to a Brazilian mining
corporation for $2.5bn.
In a
country where millions of people live in desperate poverty, without running
water, electricity or a functioning infrastructure – while sitting on some of
the richest mineral deposits in the world, it was a deal that caused widespread
anger and resentment.
Shortly
after FBI agents began investigating the circumstances surrounding the Simandou
deal to establish whether there had been any breach of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti money-laundering laws, an associate of Steinmetz was arrested in Florida.
The FBI had
covertly recorded a series of meetings during which the man had allegedly
attempted to secure the destruction of documents detailing the way in which the
iron ore concession was acquired. He has been charged with attempting to
pervert the course of justice and is due to stand trial later in the year. He
denies any wrongdoing.
Following
the raids in Switzerland and France a spokesman for Onyx said: "Onyx has
absolutely nothing to hide. We are co-operating fully with the authorities but
are unable to comment further at this time."
The
company's chief executive, Dag Cramer, added that the firm had "provided
the Swiss authorities with information".
Steinmetz
and BSGR deny any wrongdoing over the Simandou deal and say they are the
victims of a smear campaign that is being led by the current president of
Guinea, Alpha Condé, in an attempt to divert attention from his domestic
political problems. Condé, who denies this, is conducting a parallel
investigation to that being conducted by the FBI, examining a number of mining
deals struck by past governments.
Last month
the Guardian reported that Steinmetz was under investigation by the FBI as part
of its corruption probe. While researching that article questions put to
Steinmetz's spokesman Ian Middleton at the London PR firm Powerscourt twice
resulted in threats of libel action from his lawyers at Mishcon de Reya.
Earlier
this month Powerscourt also attempted to play down connections between
Steinmetz's firm BSGR and Onyx, saying they were "separate and fully
independent" of each other. Onyx was originally incorporated as BSG
Management Services; the two firms share a number of directors as well as
offices in London's Mayfair; and BSGR's website offers Onyx as a point of
contact for anyone wishing to invest in BSGR.
Asked
whether BSGR and Steinmetz had any comment on the raids in Switzerland and
France, Middleton replied: "No they don't."
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