French-Israeli mining tycoon Beny Steinmetz was arrested in Cyprus on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by Romania for a corruption conviction.
Steinmetz, 67, was detained when he arrived at Larnaca airport last Thursday, the Times of Israel reported. On Friday, a court extended his custody and declined to release him with restrictions, the Ynet outlet reported Sunday.
Israel’s foreign ministry is aware of the situation, according to Hebrew-language media reports.
Romania convicted Steinmetz in absentia for real estate fraud and and sentenced him to five years in prison in December 2020.
The Romanians then issued a European arrest warrant against the businessman. In March 2022 Greece rejected the arrest order. Italy has also previously ruled against carrying it out.
A statement on behalf of Steinmetz said authorities in those two countries rejected the warrant “in view of the violation of his right to a fair trial — as well as the real risk of him being subjected to discriminatory, inhumane and humiliating treatment if he is extradited.”
The statement also noted that Interpol had canceled its own “red notice” to detain Steinmetz, effectively canceling the Romanian arrest warrant.
It was clear to Interpol authorities that the trial against Steinmetz was “politically motivated,” the statement said. Steinmetz has appealed his conviction at the European Court of Human Rights.
Romanian police on Sunday said an extradition process would follow.
The Romanian affair concerns a real estate project Steinmetz was involved in from 2006-2008.
After communism ended in 1989, the government allowed for private land that had been confiscated in the 1940s when the communists took over to be handed back. Steinmetz was a partner and adviser to a body that held shares in a company that purchased the rights to land owned by a Romanian prince. That body was eventually accused of fraud.
Aside from the Romanian conviction, in 2021 Steinmetz was convicted of bribery in another corruption trial linked to mining rights in Guinea, and was sentenced to three years, of which half were to be served in prison.
A court rejected his appeal against that conviction earlier this year and he plans a further appeal at the country’s highest court.
Israel-based Steinmetz will not serve any prison time until the appeals process has been exhausted.
