GENEVA: Israeli diamond and minerals magnate Beny Steinmetz went on trial in Switzerland on Monday on charges of corruption and forging documents in an alleged bid to win lavish iron ore mining concessions in Guinea by paying millions to a former wife of late president Lansana Conte. Steinmetz, 64, the only one of three defendants present on Monday in the Geneva Court, has denied the charges. The alleged plot involved Steinmot's BSGR Group sqeezing out a rival for mining rights for vast iron ore deposits in Guinea's Simandou region over several years.
Jan-12-2021 (THT)