The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service has announced the arrest of an employee of the Ministry of Defence on suspicion of exporting aircraft spare parts through various companies and countries to Russian in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
The announcement confirms that this is the second arrest in the same investigation with an earlier arrest and raid conducted on 29 August 2023.
The annual report for de Volksbank N.V. has revealed the results of a sanctions-review by the Dutch National Bank.
The report states:
“Furthermore, de Volksbank has initiated a comprehensive remediation project to enhance the customer screening and transaction screening systems. This project will remediate findings from regulatory testing of our screening systems conducted by DNB in the second half of 2022, and is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2024”.
The report also notes that the DNB had identified compliance failings in the AML and anti-terrorist financing space, and de Volksbank has made a provision of €1 million in anticipation of the expected fine.
The Dutch authorities have announced the arrest of a 41-year old man on suspicion of exporting microchips indirectly to Russia through third countries in circumvention of the EU’s sanctions.
The products are computer parts and were exported through third countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Turkey and the UAE.
Residential and business premises were searched in Moerdijk as part of the investigation.
The Dutch authorities have arrested two people on suspicion of transferring funds for the benefit of Hamas – an organisation designated under EU sanctions.
The transfers are alleged to have amounted to €5.5 million.
Searches were conducted in Leischendam and Rotterdam including the seizure of cash.
The Dutch authorities have conducted searches at residential and business premises in Oegstgeest, The Hague and Haarlemmermeer and arrested a 73-year old on suspicion of breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia.
The man is alleged to have transferred shares in return for payment and paid €19 million in dividends to a Russian company owned or controlled by a designated person under the EU’s sanctions.
An unnamed financial services provider had appealed three fines imposed on it by the Dutch National Bank in relation to inadequate AML and sanctions screening in relation to transactions to do with Somalia, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
The fines were €8,000, €5,000 and €10,000 for the three identified breaches.
The fine of €8,000 was reduced on appeal to €7,600 on the basis of delay by the regulator, but the others were upheld.
The Dutch authorities today announced that they have 45 ongoing criminal investigations into Russian sanctions breaches.
Of these 29 involve violations of import and export sanctions and 16 relate to breaches of financial sanctions.
On an appeal from an earlier conviction for transferring €245 in breach of the EU’s sanctions against ISIS and Al Qaeda, the Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that a conviction does not require a showing of any intention to breach the sanctions.
Completion of the transfer itself is enough to complete the offence.
The Dutch authorities have announced the arrest of a 55-year old on suspicion of exporting dual-use microchips to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
Searches were carried out at a number of premises.
The man is alleged to have falsified the end-user information for the exports.
The Rotterdam District Court has imposed a 30-month custodial sentence on an individual relating to a two-year period in which financial transfers of approximately $140,000 were made in breach of EU sanctions against ISIS and Al Qaeda.
The transfers were related to efforts to smuggle Dutch women who had travelled to Syria and Iraq to be part of ISIS out of that region and back to the Netherlands.
