Latest news with #MercedesBenzGLC300
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Putin-appointed governor sentenced for breaching UK sanctions
A former Russian government minister, once a governor in illegally annexed Crimea, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for breaching UK sanctions. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov was found guilty of deliberately avoiding sanctions by receiving more than £75,000 from his wife, Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, into a newly-opened account, and a new Mercedes Benz SUV from his brother, Alexei Owsjanikow. Ovsiannikov, who has a British passport, was found guilty on Wednesday of six out of seven counts of circumventing sanctions. The case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Regulations, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Two years after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as acting governor of the "strategically significant" city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the jury heard. In 2017, elections were held there for the position of governor and Ovsiannikov won. He resigned from the position in July 2019. As a result of his senior job in illegally annexed Crimea, the EU and UK imposed financial sanctions on him. In August 2022, Ovsiannikov travelled to Turkey from Russia and applied for a British passport. Despite the fact that UK sanctions still applied, the jury heard that he was granted a passport in January 2023, which he was entitled to because his father was born in the UK. Ovsiannikov challenged the EU sanctions and they were lifted just five days after he arrived in the UK. After arriving in Britain on 1 February 2023, Ovsiannikov moved into his brother's house in Clapham, where his wife and two younger children were already living and attending private school. On 6 February, the former governor applied for a Halifax bank account and over the next two-and-a-half weeks his wife transferred £76,000 into his account - allowing him to put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz GLC 300 SUV. However, the bank later realised he was on the UK sanctions list and froze the account. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow bought the Mercedes instead, paying more than £54,000, the prosecution said. The prosecution argued that when Ovsiannikov's wife sent him the £76,000 and his brother bought the car they were also in breach of sanctions. While in May 2024, Owsjanikow paid more than £40,000 in school fees for his brother's two youngest children - which the prosecution argued was also in breach of sanctions. Ovsiannikov's wife, who was in the public gallery on Friday for the sentencing, was cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. His brother, Owsjanikow, was cleared of breaching sanctions by buying the Mercedes-Benz, arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov, and by making a Barclays bank account available to him. However, the jury at Southwark Crown Court found Owsjanikow guilty on two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his brother's children. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 15 months. The prosecution argued Ovsiannikov must have known he was subject to UK sanctions, because on 7 February 2023 he was applying for them to be lifted and had included his unique ID number and group ID number from his sanctions listing on the form. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 40 months' imprisonment for each count, to be served concurrently. The total amount of time he will serve was reduced by the 217 days he spent on curfew, and he will spend up to half of his sentence in custody before he is released on licence. Ovsiannikov, the former governor of Sevastopol, also served as the Russian Federation's deputy minister for industry and trade before he was dismissed and expelled from the ruling United Russia party in 2020. Under the asset freeze, Ovsiannikov was not allowed to spend money even on basic necessities. Others were not permitted to assist him to do so. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the outstanding charge, that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the new bank account. Former Putin-appointed governor guilty of breaching UK sanctions
BBC News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Former Putin-appointed governor jailed for breaching UK sanctions
A former Russian government minister, once a governor in illegally annexed Crimea, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for breaching UK Ovsiannikov was found guilty of deliberately avoiding sanctions by receiving more than £75,000 from his wife, Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, into a newly-opened account, and a new Mercedes Benz SUV from his brother, Alexei who has a British passport, was found guilty on Wednesday of six out of seven counts of circumventing case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Regulations, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Two years after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as acting governor of the "strategically significant" city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the jury 2017, elections were held there for the position of governor and Ovsiannikov won. He resigned from the position in July a result of his senior job in illegally annexed Crimea, the EU and UK imposed financial sanctions on August 2022, Ovsiannikov travelled to Turkey from Russia and applied for a British the fact that UK sanctions still applied, the jury heard that he was granted a passport in January 2023, which he was entitled to because his father was born in the challenged the EU sanctions and they were lifted just five days after he arrived in the UK. After arriving in Britain on 1 February 2023, Ovsiannikov moved into his brother's house in Clapham, where his wife and two younger children were already living and attending private 6 February, the former governor applied for a Halifax bank account and over the next two-and-a-half weeks his wife transferred £76,000 into his account - allowing him to put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz GLC 300 the bank later realised he was on the UK sanctions list and froze the account. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow bought the Mercedes instead, paying more than £54,000, the prosecution prosecution argued that when Ovsiannikov's wife sent him the £76,000 and his brother bought the car they were also in breach of in May 2024, Owsjanikow paid more than £40,000 in school fees for his brother's two youngest children - which the prosecution argued was also in breach of sanctions. Ovsiannikov's wife, who was in the public gallery on Friday for the sentencing, was cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February brother, Owsjanikow, was cleared of breaching sanctions by buying the Mercedes-Benz, arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov, and by making a Barclays bank account available to the jury at Southwark Crown Court found Owsjanikow guilty on two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his brother's children. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 15 prosecution argued Ovsiannikov must have known he was subject to UK sanctions, because on 7 February 2023 he was applying for them to be lifted and had included his unique ID number and group ID number from his sanctions listing on the form. He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 40 months' imprisonment for each count, to be served total amount of time he will serve was reduced by the 217 days he spent on curfew, and he will spend up to half of his sentence in custody before he is released on the former governor of Sevastopol, also served as the Russian Federation's deputy minister for industry and trade before he was dismissed and expelled from the ruling United Russia party in the asset freeze, Ovsiannikov was not allowed to spend money even on basic necessities. Others were not permitted to assist him to do jury failed to reach a verdict on the outstanding charge, that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the new bank account.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Putin-appointed governor guilty of breaching UK sanctions
A former Russian government minister - who was once a governor in illegally annexed Crimea - has been found guilty of breaching UK sanctions in the first case of its kind. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov was accused of deliberately avoiding sanctions by receiving more than £75,000 from his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova and a new Mercedes Benz SUV from his brother Alexei Owsjanikow. Ovsiannikov, who has a British passport, was found guilty of six out of seven counts of circumventing sanctions. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the final charge. The case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Regulations, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Two years after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as acting governor of the "strategically significant" city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the jury were told. In 2017, elections were held there for the position of governor and Ovsiannikov won. He resigned from the position in July 2019. As a result of his senior job in illegally annexed Crimea, the EU and UK imposed financial sanctions on him. In August 2022, Ovsiannikov travelled to Turkey from Russia and applied for a British passport. Despite the fact that UK sanctions still applied, the jury heard that he was granted a passport in January 2023, which he was entitled to because his father was born in the UK. Ovsiannikov challenged the EU sanctions and they were lifted just five days after he arrived in the UK. After arriving in Britain on 1 February 2023, Ovsiannikov moved into his brother's house in Clapham, where his wife and two younger children were already living and attending private school. On 6 February, the former governor applied for a Halifax bank account and over the next two-and-a-half weeks his wife transferred £76,000 into his account - allowing him to put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz GLC 300 SUV. However, the bank later realised he was on the UK sanctions list and froze the account. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow bought the Mercedes instead, paying more than £54,000, the prosecution said. The prosecution argued that when Ovsiannikov's wife sent him the £76,000 and his brother bought the car they were also in breach of sanctions. While in May 2024, Owsjanikow paid more than £40,000 in school fees for his brother's two youngest children - which the prosecution argued was also in breach of sanctions. Ovsiannikov's wife was cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. Owsjanikow was cleared of breaching sanctions by buying the Mercedes-Benz, arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov, and by making a Barclays bank account available to him. However the jury at Southwark Crown Court found Owsjanikow guilty on two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his brother's children. The prosecution argued Ovsiannikov must have known he was subject to UK sanctions, because on 7 February 2023 he was applying for them to be lifted and had included his unique ID number and group ID number from his sanctions listing on the form. In a statement after the verdicts, Julius Capon, unit head prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) , said: "The sanctions regime was introduced against key individuals to encourage Russia to cease military action because it was hoped those with power will be hampered in their normal international business dealings." Mr Capon said he hoped the guilty verdicts would send "a clear message" that CPS and National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators would work closely to seek the convictions of "sanctions busters". Ovsiannikov and Owsjanikow will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court at a later date.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Former Putin-appointed governor guilty of breaching UK sanctions
A former Russian government minister - who was once a governor in illegally annexed Crimea - has been found guilty of breaching UK sanctions in the first case of its kind. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov was accused of deliberately avoiding sanctions by receiving more than £75,000 from his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova and a new Mercedes Benz SUV from his brother Alexei who has a British passport, was found guilty of six out of seven counts of circumventing sanctions. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the final case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Regulations, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. Two years after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as acting governor of the "strategically significant" city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the jury were 2017, elections were held there for the position of governor and Ovsiannikov won. He resigned from the position in July a result of his senior job in illegally annexed Crimea, the EU and UK imposed financial sanctions on him. In August 2022, Ovsiannikov travelled to Turkey from Russia and applied for a British the fact that UK sanctions still applied, the jury heard that he was granted a passport in January 2023, which he was entitled to because his father was born in the challenged the EU sanctions and they were lifted just five days after he arrived in the UK. After arriving in Britain on 1 February 2023, Ovsiannikov moved into his brother's house in Clapham, where his wife and two younger children were already living and attending private 6 February, the former governor applied for a Halifax bank account and over the next two-and-a-half weeks his wife transferred £76,000 into his account - allowing him to put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz GLC 300 the bank later realised he was on the UK sanctions list and froze the account. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow bought the Mercedes instead, paying more than £54,000, the prosecution prosecution argued that when Ovsiannikov's wife sent him the £76,000 and his brother bought the car they were also in breach of sanctions. While in May 2024, Owsjanikow paid more than £40,000 in school fees for his brother's two youngest children - which the prosecution argued was also in breach of sanctions. Verdicts send a 'clear message' Ovsiannikov's wife was cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February was cleared of breaching sanctions by buying the Mercedes-Benz, arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov, and by making a Barclays bank account available to the jury at Southwark Crown Court found Owsjanikow guilty on two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his brother's prosecution argued Ovsiannikov must have known he was subject to UK sanctions, because on 7 February 2023 he was applying for them to be lifted and had included his unique ID number and group ID number from his sanctions listing on the a statement after the verdicts, Julius Capon, unit head prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) , said: "The sanctions regime was introduced against key individuals to encourage Russia to cease military action because it was hoped those with power will be hampered in their normal international business dealings."Mr Capon said he hoped the guilty verdicts would send "a clear message" that CPS and National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators would work closely to seek the convictions of "sanctions busters". Ovsiannikov and Owsjanikow will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court at a later date.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Putin-appointed governor on trial for breaching UK sanctions
A man who President Vladimir Putin appointed as the Governor of Sevastopol after Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia has gone on trial accused of breaching UK financial sanctions against him. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov is accused of receiving more than £75,000 from his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova and a new Mercedes Benz SUV from his brother Alexei Owsjanikow. Between them, the three defendants face ten charges of breaching the sanctions, and two charges of money laundering. They deny all the charges. Dmitrii held a senior position in Crimea for three years and the court heard he was also Russia's Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade. Two years after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitrii Ovsiannikov as acting governor of the "strategically significant" city of Sevastopol in Crimea, the jury were told. In 2017, elections were held there for the position of governor and Mr Ovsiannikov won. Paul Jarvis, for the prosecution, said he "was an important political figure within the Russian Federation" though Dmitrii Ovsiannikov later resigned from the position in July 2019. As a result of his senior job in illegally-annexed Crimea, the EU imposed financial sanctions on Mr Ovsiannikov saying that among other things he had "called for Sevastopol to become the southern capital of the Russian Federation." When the UK left the EU, the UK imposed financial sanctions on him too. He later challenged the EU sanctions and had them lifted, but the UK sanctions still apply. They are called the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. The regulations make it a criminal offence to try to get round the sanctions. The trial is the first criminal case involving the breach of the Russia Regulations. In August 2022, Dmitrii Ovsiannikov travelled to Turkey from Russia and applied for a British passport. Despite the fact that the UK sanctions still applied, the jury heard that he was granted a passport in January 2023, which he was entitled to because his father was born in the UK. Mr Jarvis said: "The father of Dmitrii and Alexei had been born in Bradford, United Kingdom, in 1950. Their mother was Russian. Dmitrii and Alexei hold British passports by virtue of their father being a British citizen." Dmitrii Ovsiannikov then arrived in Britain on 1 February 2023, moving into his brother's house in Clapham, where his wife and two younger children were already living and attending private school. On 6 February, Dmitrii Ovsiannikov applied for a Halifax bank account, saying on the form that he was single, but also saying that he was living in Clapham with his wife. Over the next two and a half weeks Ekaterina Ovsiannikova transferred £76,000 into her husband's account allowing him to put down a deposit on a Mercedes Benz GLC 300 SUV. However, the bank later realised he was on the UK sanctions list and froze the account. After this, he went back to the dealership and recovered his deposit. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow bought the car instead, paying more than £54,000 the prosecution said. The prosecution say that when Mr Ovsiannikov's wife sent him the £76,000 and his brother bought the car they were in breach of the Russia Regulations. Mr Jarvis told the jury that "they maintain that they either did not know that Dmitrii was a designated person or they did not realise that as a designated person he was not permitted to receive that type of help". He also added that Dmitrii Ovsiannikov must have known he was subject to UK sanctions, because on 7 February 2023 he was applying for them to be lifted and had included his unique ID number and group ID number from his sanctions listing on the form. Speaking to the jury, Mr Jarvis said that this showed that Mr Ovsiannikov was aware of the sanctions "and he must have made his nearest and dearest aware of that too". In January 2024 all three defendants were arrested and interviewed by police. Four months later, Alexei Owsjanikow paid more than £40,000 in school fees for his brother's two youngest children who were at the Royal Russell School in Croydon - also a breach of the sanctions. Paul Jarvis told the jury that in a police interview Alexei accepted that he had paid the school fees, but he maintained that the payments did not amount to a breach of the Russian Regulations because he believed that Ekaterina was solely responsible for those fees and not Dmitrii. The trial is expected to continue at Southwark Crown Court for three weeks.
