The District Court of Amsterdam has convicted a company on multiple charges of exporting military goods for a Russian end user. The intended Russian recipient of the exports was named as JSC Global Security, but the name of the convicted Dutch company was anonymised.
The goods (mostly bullet proof vests and other military equipment) were stopped at Schiphol airport and had been brought from South Africa.
The company was fined €30,000 (half suspended for 2 years).
The Higher Regional Court of Hamm has overturned on appeal an acquittal in the Münster Regional Court. The case has been remitted back to the lower courts.
The charges of breaching the EU’s Somalia sanctions relate to the alleged provision of training and technical assistance related to the manufacture, maintenance and use of arms and related materiel under a 2009 contract.
The Austrian Ministry of Justice has published statistics showing its enforcement between 2008 and 2017 of the Austrian “War Materials Law”.
| Year | Investigations | Prosecutions | Penalty Notices | Convictions |
| 2008 |
15 |
2 | 0 |
2 |
| 2009 |
19 |
2 | 0 |
0 |
| 2010 |
23 |
6 | 0 |
3 |
| 2011 |
18 |
4 | 0 |
2 |
| 2012 |
21 |
3 | 2 |
1 |
| 2013 |
22 |
7 | 1 |
3 |
| 2014 |
16 |
5 | 1 |
1 |
| 2015 |
30 |
5 | 2 |
4 |
| 2016 |
30 |
7 | 0 |
3 |
| 2017 |
29 |
9 | 1 |
6 |
Further to our earlier post about the Dutch authorities investigating two companies for allegedly breaching Crimean sanctions by shipping goods for the construction of the Kerch Bridge, it has now been reported that the investigation currently has been extended to seven companies.
The Diesoko Group, a Dutch engineering company, has confirmed that it is one of the companies under investigation.
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service has obtained a criminal fine of €50,000 against an unnamed Dutch freight solutions company.
The company had sought to ship radar equipment for Sukhoi jet fighters from Malaysia to Russia. The consignment was intercepted at Schiphol Airport. The sale was in breach of both European export controls, as the products were included on the EU’s Military List, and in breach of Russian sanctions which would have prohibited the granting of an export licence.
No licence had been applied for.
An individual was acquitted of a related offence.
A prosecution in relation to the export of valves for use in the Iranian nuclear sector which has been ongoing since 2014 has now been referred to the German Federal Court.
The prosecution of three individuals, named only as Bernd Gehrad L., René L. and Ralf C, relates to the export of 51 specialized valves to Iran between 2010 and 2011. The value of the valves was approximately €1 million.
The case has been sent to the Federal Court after a court in Berlin had ruled that the penalties being sought were unconstitutional.
It has been reported that the Dutch International Development minister has ordered an investigation into the alleged involvement of two Dutch companies, Dematec Equipment and Biljard Hydrauliek, in providing equipment for the building of the Kerch Strait Bridge designed to join Russia and Crimea.
The allegations, if proven, would be a breach of the EU’s Crimean sanctions.
The District Court of East Brabant has convicted an individual for breaches of the EU’s Iran sanctions.
The defendant had traded for 2 years with a designated Iranian entity. The unspecified goods had been shipped via intermediary countries Turkey and Dubai.
He was sentenced to 16 months in jail, with a further 4 months suspended subject to a two-year probation period. He was also fined €500,000. The fine was on the individual personally and not on the company through which he traded.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office has announced that the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service has opened an investigation into alleged breaches of the EU’s Crimean sanctions by three different enterprises:
a) two Lithuanian companies: BT Invest, and Hanner Group OÜ; and
b) one Crimean company owned by a Lithuanian: Pluošto Linija LLC.
It is understood that the allegation relate to investments and business dealings by Lithuanian nationals in Crimean companies and property developments in breach of the EU’s sanctions against Crimea.
It has been reported today that a plea deal has been reached for the final two defendants in the Italian prosecution of arms exports to Libya and Iran in breach of EU sanctions and export controls.
Mario Di Leva negotiated 3 years and 8 months of imprisonment and a fine of €8000, and for Annamaria Fontana the sentence was 3 years and 6 months and a fine of €7000.
See our earlier post for the plea deal for the first defendant.
