There have already been at least three decisions from the round of sanctions against Russia, according to HS’s knowledge. For instance, the corporation that exported luxury cars did not receive a suspended sentence despite transporting cash and sonar.
At least two individuals were given conditional prison terms by Kymenlaakso’s district court for evading Russian sanctions. The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has heard an appeal concerning the non-binding judgements.
The district court also decided to drop the accusations against two Germans. They attempted to ship expensive autos from Kazakhstan to Russia. The conclusion is definitive.
340 preliminary investigations into the dissemination of Russian sanctions have begun in Finland. Half of the suspicions concern private individuals.
15 cases have led to charges or the possibility of charges since the end of February 2022.
The export of luxury goods to Russia is the primary focus of the criminal suspicions. The item is considered a luxury good if its price is greater than 300 euros.
The individual was given a three-month suspended sentence for the offense of rationing, per the verdicts that were ordered.
In June and July of last year, he attempted to carry money and goods that were subject to sanctions to Russia on numerous occasions.
About 27,000 euros in cash were transported by the individual to Russia. Using both his own bank card and his son’s card, he took cash from ATMs across Finland.
Two Taylormade Ventus golf clubs and a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar smart watch were allegedly discovered in the man’s hands at the Nuijamaa border station at the end of July during a customs search. He made an attempt to lead them to Russia.
The watch cost around 787 euros to buy, while the golf clubs had a worth of 539 euros each.
The products are regarded as luxury goods, hence the export was prohibited.
The guilty individual also brought four echo sounders to Russia for the similar crime.
Echo sounders are dual-purpose equipment, meaning they can be used for military as well as civilian reasons.
One of the echo sounders, the guy told the judge, is for his own use.
The man’s explanation of the sonar being for his own use was accepted by the district court as trustworthy. The taking of the other three sonar devices has been forbidden by law, on the other hand.
The individual has refuted accusations that he was the offender.
In another instance, the defendant received a conditional four-month prison term for violating a major law. In October of last year, he attempted to ship air-cooled capacitors to Russia for about 21,800 euros via Vaalimaa.
The accused has refuted the allegation. His own remarks indicate that he has been shipping goods to Kazakhstan.
Additionally, he has contended that he was unaware of the export restriction on Russia.
The Kymenlaakso district court rejected the accusations against two men for a serious regulatory crime in the third instance of the case.
Two German guys attempted to import two BMW automobiles into Russia in September of last year. When the men were arrested at the Vaalimaa border, the cars—worth between 88,000 and 94,000 euros—were taken away.
an s………………….. Both men have lived in Kazakhstan before.
The second man defended taking the car to Kazakhstan by claiming that sending funds there is risky and challenging in other ways. Additionally, he claims that expensive cars are appreciated in Kazakhstan so highly that they are worth more than their equal in cash.
The man wanted to either trade in his automobile for an apartment or sell the car and use the money to purchase an apartment.
The other man wanted to trade the car for some farm equipment.
The guys have deep ties to Kazakhstan because they were both born and raised there, which the district court cites as justification for dropping the accusations. They both speak Russian, which is a language spoken in Kazakhstan.
It is not against the law to ship autos through Russia to another nation.
Even though it looks unusual from a Northern European perspective, the court claims that sending money to Kazakhstan in the form of assets is more effective than sending money there by bank transfer.
The court does acknowledge that Kazakhstan’s financial sector might not have evolved similarly to Finland’s. Because of this, transferring money by bank transfer is not always quick or hassle-free.