Further to our earlier post, the prosecution trial of Damen Shipping has commenced in the Netherlands.
The company has denied the allegations, which include that it falsified customs declarations to enable the export of 14 deck cranes to Russia during 2022 in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
Senior management have also been charged with sanctions offences.
The trial includes charges of bribery against Damen.
It is being reported that seven residential and commercial premises in the Steinfurt area were raided on 20 November by Customs officers from Essen, Münster and Osnabrück.
The raids relate to allegations that three individuals (aged 57, 32 and 27) were involved in the export of 346 luxury cars to Russia via third countries in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The exports are said to have taken place between 2022 and 2024 and have totalled approximately €20m in value.
The report adds that assets (including real estate, cars and bank accounts) valued at €20m have been seized as part of the investigation.
The Swedish Police have issued a report on sanctions compliance in the country, concluding that trade flows to countries neighbouring Russia suggests Swedish involvement in the circumvention of the EU’s sanctions.
In relation to the work of Swedish customs, the report noted that in 2023 more than 200 export shipments were stopped, and that 3,000 export declarations in 2024 were “subject to special review measures”.
The press release to the report notes that “a handful of preliminary investigations [are] underway regarding sanctions violations at the Police Authority and at Swedish Customs”.
The report also highlights an earlier 2024 report by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority on the outcome of its review of the sanctions screening processes and methodologies of 19 banks operating in Sweden. The report noted that none of the banks assessed had good enough automatic screening in place, but that the larger banks were better at screening than the small and medium sized banks.
The trial has commenced in Berlin of Evgeniya P., Wladimir K. and Ekaterina M. Only Evgeniya P. is before the court, the others are being tried in absentia.
The three are alleged to have exported 257 luxury cars to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions with a value of €28.2m.
The exports are reported to have been completed via Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan or Turkey.
On 4 November, the US Justice Department issued a press release following the extradition from France of Yana Leonova to face charges of exports of aviation equipment to Russia in breach of US sanctions.
The press release gives little information on when she was arrested or whether the extradition was contested.
It is alleged that she falsified the final destinations for exports and used a variety of front companies in Armenia, the Maldives and elsewhere.
German Customs has issued a 16 July Press release relating to raids and an investigation into alleged exports of luxury cars worth €3.4m to Russia.
The investigation was prompted by a suspicious activity report made to Germany’s FIU.
The investigation involves Hamburg Customs Investigation Office and the Hanover Public Prosecutor’s Office.
It is alleged that the exporter made false customs declarations purporting to indicate that the cars were destined for non-sanctioned countries, while the investigators determined that the cars were all subsequently registered in Russia.
It is being reported that the Estonian Prosecutor General’s Office has been investigating a bunkering company for alleged breaches of the EU’s sanctions in relation to Russian oil.
The report states that raids were conducted in 2023 on the company NT Bunkering, with evidence and property seized.
In response to a question from LRT, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that a pre-trial investigation remained ongoing and could not otherwise comment.
Further to our post last week, the Danish company Alfa Laval has been fined DKK 100,000 (€13,300) after a guilty please for breaches of the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
The fine relates to spare parts for a centrifuge said to be valued at just over DKK 500,000, with two sales between 3 June and 2 August 2022 being entered into with a “sister company in Russia”.
The reporting states, however, that the equipment was not actually shipped to Russia, nor payment received, with the company describing the conduct as the result of “human error”.
Since the goods in question were not supplied, transferred or exported, at this stage it is unclear exactly what the company was charged with and whether the prosecution took the view that a “sale” of the goods was completed even without delivery or payment, or whether the agreements to sell constituted an attempt or conspiracy-style offence.
This is the first example of a conviction or fine by Denmark under the EU’s Russian sanctions.
It has been widely reported (e.g. here and here) that the French military boarded and seized control of an oil tanker reputed to to be part of the “shadow fleet”.
The vessel, the “Boracay” has been sanctioned by the EU and the UK. It is alleged that the crew failed to provide information to authorities on the nationality of the vessel or otherwise comply with orders.
It has now also been reported that the vessel has now continued on its voyage and the captain has been released.
Further to our earlier post from October 2024 reporting that a company had been convicted of exporting prohibited aircraft parts to Russia and fined €165,826, a judgment published on 5 September 2025 dealt with an application to liquidate the company by the Public Prosecution Service.
The company in question has now been named as Jet Air Equipment BV.
The Gelderland Court has ordered that the company be declared prohibited and that a liquidator be appointed for the dissolution of the company. The company will have the ability to make submissions on the identity of the liquidator, but the court reserved the right to make the appointment itself.
In addition an unnamed company director has been barred for 3 years from serving as a company director.
An application to have all the assets of the company be distributed to the state was denied.
The Dutch courts have previously ordered the liquidation of a convicted company.
