April. 7, 2016
When Israeli tycoon Beny Steinmetz signed a deal for a 50% stake in one of the world’s richest mineral deposits, he expected it would rake in the kind of money that had propelled him to the top of global rich lists. As a prolific buyer of De Beers’ diamonds, and a supplier to the likes of Tiffany & Co., Steinmetz was used to maneuvering the murky world of mining. The Simandou mine, filled with iron ore and located in a remote forest in West Africa’s Guinea, was supposed to be no different.
But Steinmetz’s investment, made in 2008, sucked him into a scandal of staggering proportions. The first cracks appeared when a new government came to power in 2010 and began investigating mining contracts. Since then, there have been raids on offices linked to the billionaire in Switzerland, alleged associates nabbed by FBI stings, purported allies turned informants, and a lengthy and bitter public battle with the current government of Guinea, where an independent inquiry concluded that he acquired the stake through corruption under former dictator Lansana Conté. Steinmetz’s company, BSG Resources Ltd. (BSGR), denies paying any bribes and all other charges against them.
The confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, which were leaked to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the ICIJ and more than 100 news organizations worldwide, names at least 18 Africans so far. Almost all of them are linked to the continent’s vast natural wealth industry, which routinely enriches African elites while doing little to improve the lives of most citizens. Journalists have so far examined only a fraction of the 11 million documents that were leaked.