A director of Beny Steinmetz Group Resources set up a company that signed corrupt deals with the wife of an African president in a multi-billion-dollar mine scandal, Global Witness has learned.

Pentler Holdings Ltd, an offshore company that held shares in BSGR's mining interests in Guinea, promised millions of dollars in bribes, according to contracts seen by Global Witness. BSGR says Pentler was established independently. New information shows that claim is misleading.

BSGR's former representative in Guinea is under arrest in the US for trying to destroy the contracts and obstructing a grand jury investigation. BSGR argues that the contracts are forged. It says the corruption allegations are "entirely baseless" and that it has always acted "to the highest standards of corporate governance."