Dozens of Dutch companies caught breaching Russia sanctions

More than 100 Dutch companies have been fined or prosecuted for breaching sanctions imposed on Russia since the full-scale of Ukraine began three years ago.

The fiscal investigation service FIOD and the customs agency have opened 30 cases of suspected sanctions violations, leading to prison sentences for the worst offenders and fines of up to €200,000.

A Georgian businessman based in Arnhem was jailed last year for 32 months for smuggling used aircraft parts to Russia.

In another case, a Russian living in Gelderland was given a €200,000 fine and 18 months in prison for sending computer chips and a drone back to his homeland.

According to figures obtained by AD.nl, financial investigators have investigated six cases through the courts, while another 64 have been dealt with by customs, leading to fines of between €500 and €200,000. A further 16 cases are ongoing.

A spokesperson for the public prosecution service said priority was given to stopping technology finding its way into Russian hands. “Every microchip we have taken out of the system means one less death in Ukraine. That's how I look at it,” the spokesperson said.

Financial investigators said the cases brought to court concerned individuals that flagrantly breached the restrictions on trade with Russia, recognizing that the complexity of the sanctions meant that some companies breached them unwittingly.

“We see two categories: people or companies who do it for financial gain, and those who combine profiteering with ideological support for Putin,” a spokesperson for FIOD told AD.

“They're not necessarily Russians: they can be from anywhere. We often see these people have connections with Russian agencies.”

The financial investigator currently has 47 people working on cases of suspected sanctions violations, while an additional 150 customs personnel have been assigned, including a 55-strong specialist enforcement team.

A spokesperson for the customs agency said that most companies paid heed to the rules. “Sometimes infringements are really not done on purpose. There are so many rules that sometimes it goes wrong unintentionally.”

Some companies have been penalized for falsifying paperwork to conceal the fact that they were exporting banned products to Russia. Others try to send items via third countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkey that do not observe the sanctions.

“It's our job in those cases to prove that the Dutch company knew that the goods were ultimately destined for Russia,” the customs spokesperson said. “That can be very tough, but when we investigate their records we often find evidence.”