Israeli police detain tycoon over Guinea scam

Israeli police have detained Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz and four other suspects for questioning in a fraud investigation, says a Jerusalem Post report. The authorities put Steinmetz under house arrest last December, releasing him two weeks later without charge. They were probing 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 allegedly paid tens of millions of dollars to senior public officials in the West African state of Guinea to advance their business. The report quotes Israeli police as saying that five suspects were detained for questioning on suspicion of money laundering, fraud, corporate breach of trust, obstruction of justice and bribery.