Mark Handley – Page 38 – European Sanctions Enforcement

October 14, 2021January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Netherlands – conviction for exports to Syria

The Rotterdam District Court has convicted a manager of a wholesale business of exports to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.

The export was of 128,000 litres of acetone, which is a product listed in Annex IX of the EU regulation.

The sentence was for a three month sentence suspended for 2 years and 180 hours of community service. This was lower than sought by the prosecution.

The company responsible for the exports was acquitted on the basis that the prosecution only commenced after it had already been wound up.

September 29, 2021January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Norway – man charged with breaching Iran sanctions

It has been reported today that the Norwegian authorities have charged a German-Iranian national on suspicion of breaching UN sanctions (as implemented in Norway) against Iran.

The person is a professor at a technical university and is alleged to have invited four Iranian scientists to visit a laboratory in breach of Norway’s, and then permitted them access to technical data in breach of sanctions, export control laws, and data breach legislation.

September 14, 2021March 6, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – arrest and raids over nuclear equipment exports to Iran

It has been reported today that the German authorities have conducted raids on 11 premises across Hamburg, Schleswig Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, and that one individual (named only as Alexander J) has been arrested on suspicion of the unlawful export of machinery and equipment to Iran in breach of the EU’s sanctions.

The products were alleged to have been destined for Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and to have been valued at over €1.1 million.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office press release is here.

July 13, 2021March 7, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – €11 million confiscation for unlicensed exports upheld on appeal

The German Federal Court of Justice has upheld the confiscation of €11 million imposed on Sig Sauer for unlicensed exports of small arms to Colombia.

See our earlier post, for the original fine from 2019.

The exports were made as part fulfilment of a contract by the US government to supply weapons to the Colombian police, but the necessary export licences were not obtained from the German authorities.

The judgment is available here.

June 25, 2021March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK: OFSI’s second penalty for the day – Russian sanctions

OFSI has today issued a second penalty for breach of the EU’s Russian sanctions, again using its civil enforcement powers.

The penalty notice is available here.

The penalty, of £36,393.45, was imposed on Clear Junction Limited. The transactions in this case are the same as those relating to TransferGo, although OFSI makes clear that it was Clear Junction which reported the transactions. It is noteworthy that some of the impugned transactions took place after the first report to OFSI.

OFSI’s notice also makes the point that the breach here was of the EU’s Russian sanctions, and that post-Brexit OFSI will continue to investigate breaches of the EU’s regulations that may have taken place before Brexit.

June 25, 2021March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – OFSI imposes civil penalty for sanctions breaches

Today OFSI announced it had imposed a £50,000 financial penalty on TransferGo in the latest example of the use of its civil enforcement powers.

OFSI’s penalty notice is available here.

The fine was imposed in relation to 16 transactions over nearly 2 years valued at just £7,674.77 through which funds were made available Russian National Commercial Bank, which is a designated person under the EU’s Russian sanctions.

TransferGo did not self report but did cooperate with the investigation.

OFSI’s notice makes clear that the RNCB was not the intended beneficiary of the transactions, rather the recipients of the transfers were accounts held by non-designated persons with RNCB. OFSI has made clear that as funds held in bank accounts are legally held by the banks, that these transfers all amounted to making funds available to RNCB

June 5, 2021January 11, 2024 by Mark Handley

Denmark – authorities investigating possible breaches with pump exports to Russia

It has been reported today in the German press that the Danish authorities are investigating allegations that the Danish company Grundfos may have exported pump equipment and machinery for use in the Crimea in breach of the EU’s sanctions.

May 18, 2021March 6, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – arrests for dual-use exports to Russia

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office has issued a press release announcing the arrest of an individual Alexander S on charges of exporting dual-use goods to military recipients in Russian in breach of EU sanctions.

Although the press release does not state as much, it is likely that this individual is the same as is already facing charges relating to earlier exports.

The arrest warrant alleges the export of dual-use high-quality machine tools to an end customer in the Russian defence sector.

May 7, 2021March 7, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – appeal orders prosecution for chemical exports to proceed

We reported in an earlier post that an investigation had been opened in Germany in 2018 in relation to suspected unlawful chemical exports to Japan and United States.

Since then in February 2021 the Regional Court in Oldenburg had ruled that the prosecution of three individuals at VET Pharma Freisoythe GmbH could not proceed based on a technical issue with the implementation of the EU Anti-Torture Regulation into German law.

The prosecutor’s office appealed, and the Higher Regional Court has upheld that appeal and ordered the prosecution to proceed.

The judgment is available here.

March 30, 2021March 15, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – OFSI Annual Report for 2020-2021: enforcement statistics

The UK’s OFSI has published its Annual Report for 2020-2021.

OFSI notes that it received 132 reports of potential financial sanctions breaches.

Interestingly, OFSI declined to publish the usual annual figure of the value of the reported breaches noting that “the total value of potential breaches reported during a financial year can be disproportionately affected by a small number of transactions with a large value”.