FinTelegram and other media outlets reported last week that Israeli entrepreneur Beny Steinmetz was arrested in Cyprus on a conviction and arrest warrant in Romania. According to the court verdict, he was allegedly involved with Tal Zilberstein and other partners in Romania’s large-scale fraud and corruption scheme. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Steinmetz has now been released on bail in Cyprus.
Beny Steinmetz, a diamond tycoon with French-Israeli roots, was granted bail on Wednesday after being detained in Cyprus for nearly a week due to an international arrest warrant. Romania seeks Steinmetz for a fraud conviction from 2020, and he is scheduled to reappear in court on September 14, as reported by local news outlets.
Steinmetz was taken into custody on August 31 at Larnaca airport based on a European arrest warrant. His representative has stated that there are ongoing investigations into Steinmetz’s assertions that the arrest warrant might be invalid due to procedural flaws in the Romanian legal system. In a statement, the spokesperson mentioned, “Mr. Steinmetz expressed his appreciation for the decision, trusting that Cypriot justice will recognize the European Arrest Warrant’s execution as inappropriate given the evident irregularities in Romania’s legal proceedings.”
A Court in Romania sentenced Steinmetz in absentia to five years in prison for real estate fraud in December 2020. An initial Interpol “red notice” for his detention was issued but later revoked, with concerns about the trial’s potential political motivations, as mentioned by his spokesperson earlier. While the European arrest warrant is still in effect, it was dismissed by Italian and Greek officials due to potential breaches of Steinmetz’s right to a fair trial and potential risks of discriminatory treatment if extradited, as stated by the spokesperson.
Steinmetz has sought redress from the European Court of Human Rights regarding his conviction. The case in Romania pertains to a real estate venture from 2006-2008. After communism ended in Romania in 1989, the government permitted the return of private lands confiscated in the 1940s. Steinmetz collaborated with an entity that acquired land rights from a Romanian royal. This entity was later implicated in fraud.
In addition to the Romanian case, Steinmetz was found guilty of bribery in 2021 in a separate case related to mining rights in Guinea, receiving a three-year sentence, half of which was to be served in jail. An appeal against this verdict was dismissed earlier this year, but Beny Steinmetz intends to challenge it in the nation’s supreme court. Currently residing in Israel, Steinmetz won’t face imprisonment until all appeal avenues are explored.
