It has been reported today that the Czech authorities are currently investigating the activities of the Czech company Labara. It is suspected that the company has been exporting machinery which can be used for the manufacture of weaponry to Russia via Turkey.
Lithuanian authorities commence criminal investigations into 9 companies and 95 investigations
It was reported today, that the Lithuanian State Consumer Rights Protection Authority has undertaken investigations into 95 Lithuanian companies on suspicion of importing Russian timber products in breach of current Russian and Belarusian sanctions.
The allegation is that the goods were being mislabelled as being of Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan origin.
Of those companies investigated nine have now been reported to prosecutors.
UK – company pleads guilty to unlawful export of chemicals
It has been announced today that a British company has pleaded guilty to one count of the attempted export of a controlled chemical which is classified as a dual use good.
The company was fined just £600 plus £2,659.5 in costs.
While HMRC did not name the company, it is being reported that the company was VWR International Limited, and that the export was bound for Pakistan.
For an earlier fine imposed on VWR see our previous post.
UK – HMRC fines four companies over £1.1m for exports
The UK’s HMRC has today announced compound penalties imposed on four exporters. Two related to military goods and two to dual-use goods.
The exporters were not named.
The penalties imposed were:
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-
- £4,100
- £2,912.16
- £217,012.50
- £920,437.20
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Germany – four charged with software exports to Turkey
The Public Prosecutor in Munich has today announced the prosecution of four unnamed individuals in relation to the unlicensed exports of surveillance software to Turkey.
The alleged exporting company is the FinFisher Group. It is alleged that export documents were falsified to mask the destination of the goods.
The investigation has included cooperation with Sweden, Cyprus, Malaysia, Bulgaria and Romania.
UK – four exporters fined over £3.5m for unlawful exports
The UK’s HMRC has today announced the imposition of compound penalties on four UK exporters. Those companies were not named.
Little information is provided but the exports were all either dual-use goods or military goods.
The compound penalties which were imposed between November and December 2022, were:
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-
- £745,620
- £994,074.74
- £1,000
- £1,883,442.
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France – charges dropped for surveillance equipment sales to Egypt
It was reported today that the Paris Court has dropped charges against Nexa Technologies, and four of its management, in relation to the sales of surveillance equipment to Egypt.
We had earlier reported on the commencement of the investigation.
UK – twelve compound penalties announced for unlicensed exports
The UK’s HMRC has today announced penalties imposed on twelve exporters. The exporters are not named and the details of the offending are limited but the exports all related to either dual-use or military goods.
The penalties imposed were:
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-
- £105,895.05
- £271,700.25
- £2,700
- £1,000
- £19,637.84
- £6935.44
- £9,828.83
- £19,689.20
- £56,708.71
- £2,700
- £8,664.81
- £5,300
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Malta – five individuals and company acquitted of Libyan sanctions breaches
Further to our earlier post, a Magistrate in Malta has acquitted James Fenech, Bertrand Agius, Konrad Agius, Charles Bugeja, Michael Cauchi and the company Sovereign Charters Ltd of breaching EU sanctions against Libya.
The case related to the use of outboard motor boats to bring private military personnel out of Libya. The allegation was that the vessels were included amongst those products that could not be exported or transferred to Libya.
The court held that the particular vessels included, as identified by their 8-digit Combined Nomenclature Code, were not amongst the categories of vessels prohibited under the EU’s sanctions. Accordingly, the charges were dismissed.
The company accepted a fine of €15,000 for immigration irregularities.
Latvia – three arrested to face charges of breaching US sanctions
The US Department of Justice has announced the multiple charges against individuals and companies relating to an attempt to export US-origin industrial equipment (a jig grinder) with military application to Russia.
The companies charged are CNC Weld (incorporated in Latvia) and BY Trade OU (incorporated in Estonia).
Janis Uzbalis, Vadims Ananics, Eriks Mamonovs are three of the individuals. They were arrested in Latvia on 18 October 2022 for extradition to the US.
As part of the same investigation others were arrested in Estonia – see here.