The Brasov District Court in Romania has acquitted Beny Steinmetz, communications consultant Yuval Zilberstein, and two other Israelis on charges of land fraud in the country, Israel Hayom has learned over the weekend.
Steinmetz made his fortune in diamond mining, engineering and real estate.
According to financial daily Globes, the case developed following a move by the Romanian government to allow private landowners whose land was nationalized by the country's Communist regime in the 1940s, to demand their rights to such lands be restored.
Steinmetz was a partner in and a consultant for a group that held shares in a company that bought land rights from a prince in the Romanian royal family.
An investigation into potential land fraud alleged that Steinmetz had used the company to offer bribes in order to secure land rights. He was also charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Zilberstein has faced similar charges, the report said.
Attorney Yuval Sasson, who represented Steinmetz in the case, welcomed the ruling, telling Globes, "From beginning to end, we said and believed that our client had done nothing wrong, and this is the correct result. Following rigorous proceedings, we are delighted that the court accepted all of our arguments."
Steinmetz is still under investigation in Israel for allegedly conducting fictitious transactions in Romania. This investigation is not related to the case in Romania.
A spokesperson for Steinmetz issued a statement saying, "We welcome the Romanian court's verdict. Following a Sisyphean process of proving the truth, it was ascertained that Steinmetz's business activity was beyond reproach. The Guinean government signed a settlement retracting all of its claims against Steinmetz, and it was proven that all of his acts in Guinea were blameless. Today, it was demonstrated that the accusations in Romania against Steinmetz were baseless."
Steinmetz, the statement continued, "Will continue to prove his innocence in all of the proceedings against him until the truth is brought to light and his good name is completely and absolutely cleared. We are certain that this will be the finding in every proceeding, everywhere in the world. Beny Steinmetz will continue his business and philanthropic activities, as he has done until now."
