Mining boss Beny Steinmetz hit with High Court freezing order

Mining tycoon Beny Steinmetz and a company linked to him have reportedly had assets including two private jets and a yacht frozen by the High Court.

Steinmetz is locked in a fight over compensation with Brazilian mining company Vale which sought the orders, the Telegraph reported.

Steinmetz and five former executives from his company BSGR and two other linked businesses have been banned from disposing assets with a value of up to $1.85bn (£1.4bn), the report said.

The order was made in December in response to a damages claim by Vale.

It reportedly refers to a property owned by Steinmetz in Israel, and two Bombardier aircraft and a Benetti motor yacht owned by BSGR’s parent company Nysco.

Vale claims it was tricked into paying BSGR $500m in 2010 to share an iron ore mining project in Guinea.

The joint venture lost the mining rights in 2014 after BSGR was found to have won them through bribery, something Steinmetz has denied.

Vale is pursuing individual executives after being unable to recover the $1.3bn plus costs and interest the London Court of International Arbitration ruled BSGR should pay to Vale last year after finding BSGR liable for fraudulent misrepresentation.

Vale says Steinmetz was the main beneficiary of the $500m it paid to BSGR, which is in administration.

Steinmetz is also facing corruption charges in Switzerland in connection with the project.

The freezing order allows Steinmetz to spend £25,000 a week on living expenses.

Vale declined to comment. Steinmetz and Nysco could not be reached for comment.