In Finland and Germany, the organizers of schemes to export equipment to Russia in circumvention of sanctions are on trial — Euronews
Legal proceedings have begun in Finland and Germany regarding the illegal shipment of trucks and truck parts to Russia, in violation of current European Union sanctions.
The South Karelia District Court in Finland sentenced businessman Risto Riihimäki to three years and eight months in prison for organizing the smuggling of trucks and trailers.
According to the investigation, the defendant’s company shipped 164 units of equipment with a total value of 17 million euros to Russia between 2022 and 2023.
The court determined that the illegal activity was of an exceptional nature due to the scale of the violations and the brazen manner in which the criminal scheme was carried out.
The scheme involved falsely declaring the vehicles as exports to Kazakhstan or Turkey, using Russian territory as a transit zone.
Although such schemes were still within the bounds of the law at the time, the investigation proved that the actual customs clearance of the trucks took place directly in Russia through an intermediary company that specialized in imports.
The businessman himself denied all charges, attempting to convince the court of his own lack of knowledge and arguing that he had been misled by his partners.
However, the court found the evidence convincing and ruled that his actions constituted a deliberate violation of the sanctions regime in place against the aggressor state.
In addition to his prison sentence, Risto Riihimäki is required to pay 608,275 euros as the amount of illegally obtained profits.
Additionally, the court imposed a fine of 6 million euros, corresponding to the value of the confiscated property linked to this criminal activity.
This was reported by Euronews.
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