News / Sanctions-busting forwarder jailed, while Europe 'ramps up the pressure'

An Israeli forwarder has been handed a two-year jail stretch for breaching US sanctions on Russia by sending some 160 shipments of aircraft parts and avionics worth $2m.

49-year-old Gal Haimovich was given the custodial sentence on Friday, and also faces three years of supervised release and forfeiture of the more than $2m he made in the scam, which involved deceiving US companies on the true destination of shipments.

A US Department of Justice statement said Haimovich “and others” submitted false information in export documents filed with the US in an attempt to conceal the scheme.

“Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company that was an affiliate in a group of companies that did business in various countries, including the United States and Israel,” said the DoJ.

“Through those companies, he operated as a forwarder of choice for individuals and entities seeking to illegally export goods to Russia in violation of US export controls.”

Shipments, including missile technology, were exported from Florida to third-party transhippers who evaded US sanctions by moving goods via companies based in third countries, including the Maldives, which would then forward them on to Russia.

Among Haimovich’s customers were Siberia Airlines, operating as S7 Airlines; the shipments in question moving mostly between March 2022 and May 2023.

While the DOJ said Haimovich had been “routinely instructed” by end customers in Russia to deceive US-based manufacturers and suppliers on the ultimate destination of shipments, court documents suggested he had been “more than cooperative” with the investigation.

News of his conviction was followed by the 16th package of sanctions against Russia by the Council of Europe since the start of the war on Ukraine.

Carriers operating domestic services in Russia are now prohibited from flying from, or to, the European Union, or over it, extending a ban that already active against Russian carriers.

The move comes on the back of signals from Moscow that it may open domestic market access to foreign carriers in an effort to offset sanctions-inducted aircraft shortages.

The council will also impose sanctions on any international company supplying either aircraft or sanctioned goods to those carriers that choose to operate in Russia’s domestic market.

The EC said: “The commission welcomes the council’s adoption of the 16th Russia sanctions package.

“As Russia’s illegal aggression enters its fourth year, this package is designed to further ramp up pressure on the aggressor and is part of the EU’s unwavering commitment to a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”

This latest volley of sanctions also prohibits transactions with Moscow’s Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports and four regional gateways.

The package also includes an amendment preventing an increase in Russian ownership of EU road transport undertakings above 25%, with the EC noting that this would close “potential loopholes for circumventing existing sanctions”.