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.
Further to our earlier post that the Swiss had nearly 100 sanctions investigations, the Swiss authorities have provided an update.
The number of investigations conducted by SECO (the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) is now 130, with 29 of those referred for criminal prosecution.
It has been reported today that the Gardaí have referred a case for criminal prosecution to the Director of Public Prosecutions for alleged breaches of the EU’s Russian sanctions.
No further details on the case were reported.
It has been reported today that a prosecution in Malta for allegedly breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia has ended in acquittal.
The investigation commenced in 2019 after a bank submitted a suspicious activity report.
The transaction at the heart of the case was the export of 142 pallets of ammunition from Russia to Morocco via a Maltese company; Donna Shipping Company Limited.
The company and one of its directors, Karl David Mallia, a qualified accountant were both prosecuted, but not any of the other directors of the company.
The court held that there was insufficient evidence that Mallia had been involved in the particular transaction.
It has been reported today that the Spanish authorities have arrested two individuals, a Russian national and a Ukrainian national, on suspicion of exporting military goods to Russia in breach of EU sanctions.
The investigation was started in 2021 nad has involved a number of raids. The goods in question were exported through third countries but destined for the Russian aeronautical sector.
It has been reported today that the Romanian company Deltrans Grup&Ro SR successfully appealed against a fine and confiscation order imposed by the Romanian ANAF.
The alleged wrongdoing related to two orders from a Moldovan company filled by products from plywood producer Sveza. The ANAF alleged that Sveza was owned and controlled by a designated person, Alexei Mordashov.
The court ruled that this link was asserted rather than proven by the ANAF and annulled the fine and confiscation.
It has been reported that the ANAF is appealing this decision.
It has been reported today that a German company from Schleswig-Holstein has been convicted of breaching the EU’s sanctions against Russia for the illegal export of machinery that was used to help build the Kerch bridge.
The equipment was a hydraulic hammer used for driving in the piles for the bridge. The fine was imposed by the District Court in Kiel.
The Swiss authorities have this week provided some statistics on their ongoing sanctions enforcement efforts.
They have reported a total of 100 investigations. Of those:
While most of these relate to Russia, at least two relate to Belarus sanctions.
The majority of the investigations are said to relate to trade sanctions rather than financial sanctions.
It has been reported that the Polish authorities are currently investigating between 7 to 9 companies for potential breaches of the EU’s Russian sanctions.
The source for the information is a representative of Poland’s FIU reported in a report on Polish sanctions by the Royal United Services Institute.
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.
