Diamond magnate says he could not bribe wife of Guinean president $10m as she was only a 'mistress'
A French-Israeli diamond billionaire could not have paid $10m (£7.4m) in bribes to a wife of Guinea’s late president to clinch a mining contract because she was, in fact, his mistress and thus not “corruptible”, his lawyers argue.
Beny Steinmetz stood trial on Monday in Geneva on charges of corrupting public officials and forging documents following a six-year inquiry.
It is the first international corruption trial of its kind to take place in Switzerland according to NGOs.
He face a maximum 10-year prison term at the end of the two-week trial and denies wrongdoing.
Swiss prosecutors accuse Mr Steinmetz and two partners of entering a “pact of corruption” with Mamadie Toure, the fourth wife of former Guinean president Lansana Conte, along with others, in order to win mining rights in the southeastern Simandou region.
The area is thought to contain the world's biggest untapped iron ore deposit.
They argue Mr Steinmetz obtained the mining rights shortly before President Conte died in 2008 after about $10 million was paid in bribes over a number of years via myriad bank accounts, some Swiss. They say he then forged documents to cover up the bribery.
Mr Steinmetz has previously dismissed the allegations as an attempt by political enemies to smear him.
Ms Toure is a key witness in the trial and is scheduled to testify on Wednesday.
Mr Steinmetz’s lawyer Marc Bonnant maintains his client "never paid a cent to Ms Mamadie Toure”. He argues she was not married to Mr Conte but was his mistress. As a result, she cannot be deemed a “corruptible official” under Swiss law, he contends, and any testimony she may give is not valid in a Swiss court.
Ms Toure has protected status as a state witness in the United States, where she is believed to live, after testifying about the case to the FBI.
"This is a case of witness subornation," Mr Bonnant told the court.
The trial shines a light on a multi-billion pound tussle for mining rights in Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries despite its natural wealth.
Mr Conte's military dictatorship ordered global mining giant Rio Tinto to relinquish two concessions to BSGR, the group owned by the Steinmetz family, for around $170 million in 2008.
Just 18 months later, BSGR sold 51 percent of its stake in the concession to Brazilian mining giant Vale for $2.5 billion.
"The profit was colossal, about twice Guinea's state budget at the time," Geraldine Viret, a spokeswoman for investigative NGO Public Eye, told AFP.
She described the case as a "sad illustration of the problematic curse of natural resources”.
In February 2019, Mr Steinmetz reached a deal with Guinean authorities, who dropped corruption charges against him in exchange for him relinquishing his remaining rights to the Simandou mine.
However, Geneva pressed ahead with the case.
The trial continues.
