JERUSALEM: Billionaire Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz and another suspect were remanded in custody for four days on Monday after being arrested in a fraud investigation, a police spokeswoman said.
Steinmetz and Tal Silberstein, an international political adviser, were detained and questioned with three other suspects who were later released without charge, spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
She did not name them, but Israeli telecoms company Bezeq said its acting Chairman David Granot had been released after being briefly held in connection with the investigation.
Attorneys representing Steinmetz and Silberstein both denied wrongdoing by their clients.
“Mr Steinmetz is determined to continue the fight in any legal arena in Israel and abroad ... No charges have been brought against him in any (previous) investigations and we are certain that this will be the case here, too,” said Steinmetz’s lawyer, Ronen Rosenbloom.
In an initial statement after the arrests, police said five suspects were held for questioning under caution on suspicion of money laundering, fraudulent filing of corporate documents, fraud and corporate breach of trust, obstruction of justice and bribery.
They said searches were carried out in the suspects’ homes and offices and the detainees were suspected of having “acted together and methodically with the prime suspect in order to create and present fictitious contracts and deals ... in a foreign country in order to transfer funds and launder money.”
The statement did not name the prime suspect or the foreign nation.
Last December, Israeli authorities put Steinmetz under house arrest and released him two weeks later without charge, in an investigation of bribery allegations relating to the activities of his mining firm BSG Resources in Africa. BSGR denied any wrongdoing.
At the time, police said he and other Israelis living abroad were alleged to have paid tens of millions of dollars to senior public officials in the West African state of Guinea to advance their business.
BSGR said in December the investigation had been initiated by the government of Guinea, which opened a review of mining contracts signed before 2011 as part of international efforts to improve transparency.
In its review, the West African nation investigated how BSGR obtained the rights to the Simandou deposit, the world’s largest untapped iron ore reserves, in 2008.
Israeli billionaire Steinmetz held in fraud probe
Israeli billionaire Steinmetz held in fraud probe
Tunisians revive protests in Gabes over pollution from state chemical plant
- People chanted mainly “Gabes wants to live“
- The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month
TUNIS: Around 2,500 Tunisians marched through the coastal city of Gabes on Wednesday, reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex amid rising anger over perceived failures to protect public health.
People chanted mainly “Gabes wants to live,” on the 15th anniversary of the start of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising that sparked the Arab Spring movement against autocracy.
The protest added to the pressure on President Kais Saied’s government, which is grappling with a deep financial crisis and growing street unrest, protests by doctors, journalists, banks and public transport systems.
The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month, signalling great tension in the country. The recent protests are widely seen as one of the biggest challenges facing Saied since he began ruling by decree in 2021.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “We want to live” and “People want to dismantle polluting units,” as they marched toward Chatt Essalam, a coastal suburb north of the city where the Chemical Group’s industrial units are located.
“The chemical plant is a fully fledged crime... We refuse to pass on an environmental disaster to our children, and we are determined to stick to our demand,” said Safouan Kbibieh, a local environmental activist.
Residents say toxic emissions from the phosphate complex have led to higher rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, while industrial waste continues to be discharged into the sea, damaging marine life and livelihoods.
The protests in Gabes were reignited after hundreds of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties in recent months, allegedly caused by toxic fumes from a plant converting phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers.
In October, Saied described the situation in Gabes as an “environmental assassination”, blaming policy choices made by previous governments, and has called for urgent maintenance to prevent toxic leaks.
The protesters reject the temporary measures and are demanding the permanent closure and relocation of the plant.
