The Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz was held in Athens by the Greek police following the conviction in Romania. He was stopped in late November at the airport, and the authorities noticed a red flag alert on his name.
The red flag is generated by an international warrant issued by the Romanian authorities to all the Interpol country members. The billionaire was convicted in Romania for bribery-related crimes, and he was sentenced to five years in prison. A Swiss court had also convicted him for bribery-related crimes in Guinea.
Sources claim that Steinmetz had his ref flag removed from his criminal recording at Interpol, but the Greek authorities delayed the erasure of his name from their records. According to the supervisory committee of Interpol, the billionaire was convicted for political grounds, and thus his conviction could not lead to his arrest or detention.
At the moment, Steinmetz is free to move around Greece, but he is forbidden from leaving the country. A final decision of the Greek authorities is expected in the following days. The billionaire could be free to go to Israel, or he could face extradition to Romania.