Germany – European Sanctions Enforcement

July 18, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – two individuals convicted of electronics exports to Russia

A court in Stuttgart has convicted two individuals for their role in the export of 120,000 dual-use items to Russia between January 2020 and May 2023. The parts included those used for the “Orlan 10” drone. The value of the goods was estimated at €875,000.

One individual was given a custodial sentence of 6 years and 9 months and the other was given a suspended sentence of 1 year and 9 months.

The scheme had involved disguised sales and invoices involving Hong Kong and Turkey, as well as false documents indicating that some of the goods had been sold to customers in Germany.

As per our earlier post, the individuals were charged had been charged in March 2024.

July 4, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – fine for the captain of distressed vessel which took Russian timber into German port

Further to our earlier posts about the detention and subsequent release of the vessel the Atlantic Navigator II which carried, amongst other cargo, birch timber of Russian origin into the German port of Rostock.

It is now being reported that the Captain of the vessel has received a fine which he was directed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to pay to the charity Human Rights Watch.

The fine was €8,000, which no doubt reflects the fact that the vessel only entered German waters after experiencing technical difficulties.

July 1, 2024July 10, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – raids and arrests for suspected exports of luxury cars to Russia in breach of sanctions

On Friday the Customs office in Frankfurt raided and searched 24 residential and business premises mostly in Offenbach am Main and Aschaffenburg although Customs said the network extended across Germany. Four individuals were arrested. The actions were part of an investigation into the suspected export of luxury cars to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.

The individuals arrested were aged between 39 and 44 with one woman and three men.

The allegation is that 170 luxury cars had been exported since 2022.

Five cars were seized as part of the raids along with evidence and €300,000 in cash. In addition a freezing order was obtained over €13.3m in bank accounts said to be the profits from the enterprise.

The German authorities have been particularly active in enforcement related to luxury cars of late:

June 28, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – raids on seven premises as part of sanctions investigation into car exports

On Wednesday more than 60 officers from customs offices and prosecutors raided seven premises in Germersheim in the Rheinland-Palatinate region.

The investigation relates to the export of approximately 190 luxury cars to Russia valued at €4.5m, with the exports conducted via Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Turkey.

As well as evidence significant amounts of cash were seized and attachment orders have been obtained over bank accounts and real estate.

June 7, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – raids on luxury car exporters to Russia

It is being reported (in German and English) that the Customs Investigation Office in Essen and the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bochum conducted raids on two premises including on a luxury car dealership on suspicion of exporting more than €5 million in cars to Russia.

The allegations include that fictitious destinations for the exports were put forward when the real destination was Russia.

Evidence and cars were seized as part of the raids.

May 8, 2024May 8, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – individual convicted for exporting luxury cars to Russia in breach of EU sanctions

On 24 April the Cologne District Court convicted a unnamed 52-year old individual of breaching the EU’s Russian sanctions by exporting 38 luxury cars and two motorcycles to Russia.

The cars were said to have totaled €4.7m in value, and were largely shipped to Russia via Belarus (where the goods are not prohibited exports). The prosecution was able to show through invoice addresses, the origins of payments and the ultimate Russian registrations of the vehicles that the individual was knowingly exporting to Russia.

The man was given a suspended two-year prison sentence, ordered to pay €20,000 and ordered to do 200 hours of community work.

It is unclear if the proceeds of the sales will be the subject of confiscation proceedings.

In terms of the sentence the court accepted as mitigating factors: i) that a previously legitimate business was made unlawful almost overnight; and ii) that the goods in question were not military or dual use. Given that these factors would be present in very many cases it is unclear why they were considered as mitigating.

May 6, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – trial starts of three individuals accused of drone exports to Russia

Further to our earlier post about the laying of charges against three individuals accused of exporting drones and drone parts to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions, the criminal trial of these individuals started on Friday.

The three are, between them, accused of 54 counts of breaching sanctions.

The conduct is alleged to have included exports to front companies in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and of deceiving component suppliers based in the US by saying that Germany was to be the final destination of the products.

April 24, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – investigation by Berlin prosecutor into “Russian House”

It is being reported today that the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is investigating whether the operations of the “Russian House” in Berlin are in breach of the EU’s Russian sanctions.

The “Russian House” is a scientific and cultural centre that was founded in the 1980s. It is being reported that the Zentralstelle für Sanktionsdurchsetzung (Central Office for Sanctions Enforcement) has concluded that is a “dependent branch” of the government body Rossotrudnichestvo, which has been designated in the EU since July 2022.

April 22, 2024April 22, 2024 by Mark Handley

Germany – charges laid in relation to exports to China

The German Federal Prosecutor’s office issued a press release earlier today in relation to the charging of three individuals for alleged export control violations.

The three charged are German nationals named as Herwig F., Ina F. and Thomas R.

It is alleged that the three were working for or on behalf of a Chinese intelligence agency and that they worked to procure information in relation to technology with military application, including ship engines.

The defendants are also charged with the unlicensed export of a laser to china in breach of the EU’s Dual-Use Regulation.

April 22, 2024 by Mark Handley

European Sanctions Enforcement – milestone of over 2000 announced and active investigations reached

With the recent news that Finland has increased the number of its ongoing investigations, Europe (meaning the EU, the UK, Switzerland, etc) has reached the milestone of over 2,000 ongoing and public sanctions enforcement investigations being undertaken by regulators and prosecutors.

No doubt there are other investigations which are ongoing in the countries shown on the graph, and no doubt there are investigations ongoing in countries not shown and which remain confidential.

How many of these will be dropped due to inconclusive evidence or exculpatory evidence, and how many will lead to a conviction or fine or acquittal is impossible to say.

It is, without question, an unprecedented level of enforcement.