Soros Foundation said to have instigated failed legal case against Steinmetz firm
THE High Court in Sierra Leone has kicked out the case against Octea Ltd, a company owned by mining entrepreneur Beny Steinmetz Resources Group (BSG), which had been under-fire for allegedly harming health and livelihoods of community members living near Octea’s Koidu diamond mine in the West African country.
Judges said the case brought against the miner “had no
merit”, according to an Octea statement on Monday. Reuters reported on October
2 that a freeze over the Koidu assets, to remove the risk of expatriation, had
also been lifted by the High Court.
A gagging order had also been lifted by the High Court.
Citing its own investigation, Octea said the entire legal
suit was a fabrication as the defendants and plaintiffs listed in the
application were “non-existent”. In several cases, a number of plaintiffs had
already received compensation from Octea after the mine transferred them to
safety zones, it said.
Octea said the legal action was instigated by
non-governmental organisations and publicised by a Reuters reporter the mining
firm said was funded by the George Soros Foundation. The foundation is one of
the parties defending a $10bn lawsuit filed by BSG Resources in the US Federal
Court related to the ownership of mineral rights to the Simandou deposit in
Guinea-Conakry, Octea said.
Reuters said its reports were accurate regarding the matter.
“Our independent reporting fairly and accurately summarises the plaintiffs’
allegations and the status of the lawsuit.
We stand by our reporter and our reporting.”
Said Octea: “Octea is evaluating its legal options with
regards to those parties who have attempted to damage the business of Octea and
its operations in Sierra Leone, but also those who have actively smeared the
reputation of Octea, its officers and its workers, both within and outside of
Sierra Leone”.
In August, Reuters reported that Steinmetz was to fight
Swiss corruption charges related to long-standing claims he paid bribes in
order to win mining licences for Guinea’s iron ore resources. Claudio Mascotto,
a Geneva prosecutor, said he was seeking prison terms of two to 10 years for
Steinmetz and two associates over the alleged payment of $10m in bribes for
mining licences between 2005 and 2010.
Citing the Israeli billionaire’s lawyer, Marc Bonnant, Reuters
said the charges would be disproved just as Guinea stepped back from charging
Steinmetz on similar claims. “His defence is simple, he absolutely contests all
the charges against him,” said Bonnant.
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