The Latvian VDD (Intelligence Services) have announced that they have referred a case to criminal prosecution relating to the provision of “economic resources to another person, who is subject to EU sanctions”.
No further details of the alleged offending were provided.
It has been reported that Dmitry Mazepins, a designated person under the EU’s Russian sanctions has been fined €500,000 for unlawfully removing a frozen asset from Italy.
The asset in question was the yacht Aldabra which is said to have been sailed to Tunisia out of the reach of the EU’s sanctions.
It was reported today that the Swiss authorities are currently investigating 30 possible breaches of frozen asset reporting under the Swiss sanctions against Russia.
It was also stated that one of these cases had already been referred to federal prosecutors.
The UK’s National Crime Agency has announced the arrest of three individuals on suspicion of various offences including sanctions breaches.
The individuals were not named.
The National Crime Agency has today claimed to have undertaken 100 “disruptions” since the uptick in Russian sanctions following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The NCA stated:
“To date, the NCA has secured nearly 100 disruptions – actions that demonstrably remove or reduce a criminal threat – against Putin-linked elites and their enablers.
These include a number of Account Freezing Orders (AFOs) over accounts held by individuals who are closely linked to sanctioned Russians. The Cell has also investigated and taken discreet action against a significant number of elites who impact directly on the UK, as well as targeting less conventional routes used to disguise movements of significant wealth, such as high value asset sales via auction houses.
Internationally, the NCA’s work has assisted in the freezing of numerous properties, eight yachts and four aircraft, and it continues to work in concert with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to ensure that other assets in the UK are frozen, as well as with global partners to target illicit wealth held abroad”.
Further to our earlier post, the Jersey authorities have admitted that the raids conducted in relation to an investigation involving Roman Abramovich had been conducted unlawfully.
Compensation has also been agreed.
It has been reported today that the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and the English Solicitors Regulation Authority are actively investigating a number of law firms for suspected sanctions breaches.
The law firms were not named.
Further to the ongoing German investigation into Alisher Usmanov, the German authorities have conducted searches at two branches of UBS in Frankfurt and Munich.
The authorities stated that no allegations of wrongdoing are being made against the bank or its employees.
The Romanian company Liberty Galati has successfully overturned an administrative fine and the confiscation of over 7.6 million lei (c. €1.5m).
The alleged breach of EU sanctions related to a shipment of iron ore pellets which left Russian on 22 February 2022, and arrived in Romania on 25 February 2022. The seller of the pellets was Metalloinvest, which is owned or controlled by Alisher Usmanov who was designated on 28 February 2022. The pellets were on-sold in Romania on 1 March 2022.
The initial fine and confiscation was based on the allegation that it was a breach of the EU’s sanctions to deal with Metalloinvest in this way. The court disagreed and held that Liberty Galati had taken title to the pellets on 22 February at a time that Metalloinvest was not subject to sanctions.
The UK authorities have arrested a man, Graham Bonham-Carter, as part of an extradition request from the US authorities.
The man is alleged to have conspired to breach US sanctions for and on behalf of Oleg Deripaska.
