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A former Russian politician appointed by Vladimir Putin has been found guilty of infringements of sanctions and money laundering by a jury in London, in the first recent British criminal prosecution for sanctions.
DMITRII OVSIANNIKOV, former Governor of Sevastopol in the Russian-annulated Crimea, was convicted on Wednesday to Southwark Crown Court of six counts of violating sanctions and two counts of money laundering, according to the UK National Crime Agency.
The jury was unable to make an opinion on a seventh sanction costs.
His brother, Alexei Owsjanikow, was found guilty of bypassing two counts of sanctions and acquitted on three other charges. Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, the wife of DMITRII, was acquitted of four accusations of infringements of sanctions. All three defendants are Russian nationals.
The prosecution was aimed at the status of DMITRII as a ‘designated person’ on the sanctions list of the UK, who imposed certain financial prohibitions on him with regard to which funds could be made available for his use.
Within a few weeks of arrival at the UK in 2023, DMITRII tried to buy a £ 54,000 Mercedes-Benz with the help of money that Ekaterina had transferred to him. When his bank account was frozen, Alexei bought the car he could use, the persecution said.
The prosecutor claimed that DMITRII knew that he had been punished by the UK, despite the fact that he had successfully challenged his designation in the European Union in 2022 and was removed from the EU list.
The jury was told that there was “sufficient evidence” to show that Dmitrii was aware of his status as a sanctioned person. When he arrived in the UK, e -mailed Dmitrii the foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and asked to be withdrawn to be withdrawn, the court heard.
The criminal case was the first to be brought under sanction legislation that was introduced in 2018.
Dmitrii and Alexei are convicted at a later time. The maximum punishment for circumventing sanctions is seven years in prison. The money -white offenses have a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Public Prosecutor said that they would also restore the proceeds of crime.
DMITRII’s lawyer refused to comment. Lawyers for the other two defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comments.