United Kingdom – Page 2 – European Sanctions Enforcement

July 31, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – investigation by HMRC into potential Airbus violations of export controls

Reuters has reported that Airbus’s most recent half-yearly financial statements include reference to an ongoing investigation by HMRC.

Under the heading “HMRC Export Control Investigation”, the financial company records: “Airbus is fully cooperating with an investigation by the Revenue and Customs Authority of the United Kingdom into possible violations of the United Kingdom’s export control rules. It is not expected that the resolution of this matter will have a material financial impact“.

No further details are provided.

July 29, 2024August 1, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – confiscation of more than £750,000 from family and estate of Petr Aven

It is being reported that the UK’s National Crime Agency has completed the confiscation of funds related to Petr Aven.

The sum of £750,000 was confiscated from bank accounts held in the name of Petr Aven’s wife and others.

A sum of cash initially recovered by the NCA from a residence outside London was also confiscated.

The funds were confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Updated on 1 August to reflect issuance of NCA’s press release:

The NCA has stated that the funds, totalling £783,827.34 were held for the benefit of Petr Aven although not in his name, and that the breaches of sanctions giving rise to the funds being the proceeds of crime were: “Attempts to relocate the funds, as well as transactions made after March 15 2022 by Aven’s estate manager, Stephen Gater … . These included the payment of salaries to over 20 members of Aven’s household staff, and the sale of a Bentley Bentayga worth £160,000“.

July 23, 2024August 1, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – extradition to the US for person suspected of Iran sanctions breaches

A press release from the US Department of Justice records that an individual, Saeid Haji Agha Mousaei, was arrested in the UK on 24 January 2023 pursuant to an Interpol diffusion notice.

Mr Mousaei was then subsequently extradited to the US where he faces multiple charges arising from the alleged supply of “controlled electronics with military applications, including signals equipment like oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers, for export and re-export to Iran”.

It is alleged that false documentation was prepared which indicated that the goods were to remain in countries such as the UAE and Armenia, but the goods were all transshipped to Iran via the UAE.

July 23, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – two law firms reported to OFSI by legal regulator

It is being reported that two law firms have been reported by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to the UK’s OFSI.

it is alleged that the law firms were facilitating financial transactions valued at more than £300,000. It is unclear whether the conduct relates to designated persons, trade sanctions, or the UK’s prohibitions on Russian investment.

The attention on law firms chimes with the report yesterday that there has been an investigation in Germany relating to a potential breach of the EU’s prohibitions on legal advice.

July 9, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – HMRC criminal investigation into alleged exports of perfume to Russia

In a civil judgment handed down earlier this week, it was revealed (at paragraph 63) that an individual, David Crisp, was arrested by HMRC on 10 October 2023 and electronic devices were seized.

The allegation is that companies managed by Mr Crisp were knowingly exporting perfume to Russia in breach of the UK’s sanctions.

As of the date of the judgment, HMRC had confirmed (at paragraph 69) that the criminal investigation remains ongoing but so far no charges have been made and Mr Crisp is no longer on bail.

The judgment itself is of note for the Court removing Mr Crisp as a director of the relevant companies on the basis that there was a “strong prima facie evidential basis for the allegations” of breaching the UK’s sanctions. The orders were a form of interlocutory relief as part of an unfair prejudice petition brought by another of the shareholders of the companies.

July 5, 2024 by Mark Handley

UK – National Crime Agency applies for confiscation order for £1.1m

The UK’s National Crime Agency has applied to confiscate £1.1m in frozen funds owned or controlled by Petr Aven on the basis that the funds in question are the proceeds of crime for being the proceeds of suspected breaches of the UK’s Russian sanctions.

It is being reported that the funds were first frozen by a court order in May 2022. The money is said to have been used in transactions by Ekaterina Kozina, Petr Aven’s wife, and Stephen Gater, Aven’s “representative”.

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – HMRC corrects/changes description of earlier fine to withdraw reference to Russian sanctions

Back in April we posted about a Compound Penalty imposed by HMRC on a company for breaching the UK’s Russian Sanctions Regulations.

The company was fined £1,058,781.79.

HMRC has today issued a changed Notice to Exporters about this fine. The changed description removes any reference to the UK’s Russian sanctions regulations and replaces it with:

“March 2024 – £1,058,781.79 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of dual use goods controlled by Retained Regulation 428/2009“.

No explanation for the change is given.

May 13, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – OFSI has ongoing oil price cap investigations

As part of its evidence to the UK Parliament HM Treasury (of which OFSI is a part) has provided the first indications that it has ongoing investigations into possible breaches of the oil price cap.

HM Treasury stated:

“OFSI takes a proactive enforcement approach and is currently undertaking a number of investigations into suspected breaches of the oil price cap, using powers under SAMLA to request information and working closely with international partners in the G7+ coalition. Although OFSI cannot discuss or comment on individual cases, OFSI is able to launch investigations based on
suspected breach reports shared with us, intelligence capabilities, and other reporting“.

HM Treasury also repeated the statistic from its Annual Report that as of April 2023 it had 172 cases under live investigation (no update covering the intervening 13 months was provided), and confirmed an earlier ministerial answer that the first fines for breaches of post-2022 Russian sanctions are expected this year.

April 25, 2024May 16, 2024 by Mark Handley

United Kingdom – HMRC issues £2.3m in compound penalties for sanctions and export controls breaches

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the body empowered to enforce export controls and trade sanctions in the UK, has today published two Notices to Exporters setting out compound penalties in relation to Russian sanctions and export control violations.

The first Notice, in relation to an unnamed company, relates to a penalty of £1,058,781.79 imposed for breaches of the UK’s Russian sanctions regulation.

No information is given as to the nature of the conduct, the value of the goods, or why a criminal prosecution was not brought. There is no mention of a confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

The second Notice relates to export control violations that are not described as breaches of the UK’s sanction. Again no information is given as to the names of the companies, the nature of the violations, or an indication given as to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime.

To quote the Notice:

“The 6 settlements made by UK companies were:

- January 2024 – £12,700.00 was paid for a breach of licence conditions in relation to the export of military goods
- February 2024 – £33,822.64 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of military goods controlled by The Export Control Order 2008
- February 2024 – £971,726.00 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of military goods controlled by The Export Control Order 2008
- February 2024 – £139,841.85 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of military goods controlled by The Export Control Order 2008 and dual use goods controlled by Retained Regulation 428/2009
- March 2024 – £92,817.40 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of military goods controlled by The Export Control Order 2008
- March 2024 – £56,915.27 was paid relating to the unlicensed exports of military goods controlled by The Export Control Order 2008“.

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.