Latest news with #Ovsiannikov
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Russian minister jailed for breaching UK sanctions
A former Kremlin minister has become the first person to be convicted and jailed for breaching Britain's sanctions on Russia. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who was Vladimir Putin's deputy minister for industry and trade between 2015 and 2016, was sentenced to nearly three and a half years in prison after his wife transferred £76,000 into a British bank account when he knew he was prohibited from doing so. The 48-year-old also served as the governor of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, between 2017 and 2019, before his expulsion from Russia's ruling party in 2020. His assets were frozen by the EU and the UK in November 2017. He resigned from his position as governor in July 2019 and later travelled to Turkey from Russia, where he applied for a British passport. This was granted in January 2023 because his father was born in the UK. Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, Ovsiannikov's brother, was spared jail after being convicted of two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for Ovsiannikov's children. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 15 months, and was previously cleared of a further three counts of breaching sanctions including buying a Mercedes-Benz worth £54,500 and arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov. Ovsiannikov's wife Ekaterina, who watched the hearing from the public gallery, was previously cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. The brothers brought packed bags into the dock in case of a custodial sentence. The jury at Southwark Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on the charge that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the Halifax account. Julius Capon, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: 'The sanctions regime was introduced against key individuals in an attempt to encourage Russia to cease military actions in foreign countries because it was hoped those with power will be hampered in doing their normal international business dealings. 'Dmitrii Ovsyannikov was a high-profile official who was appointed by President Vladimir Putin as the governor of Sevastopol after Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia. He knew he had been on the UK sanctions list since 2017, but choose to ignore this. 'Another member of his family sought deliberately to breach the sanctions to live their own lavish lifestyle and show complete disregard for the law. We hope this send a clear message that the CPS and National Crime Agency investigators will work closely together to robustly seek the convictions of sanction busters. 'We will start proceeds of crime proceedings to get back illegally obtained cash and assets.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
11-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Former Russian minister jailed for breaching UK sanctions
A former Kremlin minister has become the first person to be convicted and jailed for breaching Britain's sanctions on Russia. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who was Vladimir Putin's deputy minister for industry and trade between 2015 and 2016, was sentenced to nearly three and a half years in prison after his wife transferred £76,000 into a British bank account when he knew he was prohibited from doing so. The 48-year-old also served as the governor of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea, between 2017 and 2019, before his expulsion from Russia's ruling party in 2020. His assets were frozen by the EU and the UK in November 2017. He resigned from his position as governor in July 2019 and later travelled to Turkey from Russia, where he applied for a British passport. This was granted in January 2023 because his father was born in the UK. Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, Ovsiannikov's brother, was spared jail after being convicted of two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for Ovsiannikov's children. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 15 months, and was previously cleared of a further three counts of breaching sanctions including buying a Mercedes-Benz worth £54,500 and arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov. Ovsiannikov's wife Ekaterina, who watched the hearing from the public gallery, was previously cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. The brothers brought packed bags into the dock in case of a custodial sentence. The jury at Southwark Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on the charge that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the Halifax account. 'Lavish lifestyle and disregard for the law' Julius Capon, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: 'The sanctions regime was introduced against key individuals in an attempt to encourage Russia to cease military actions in foreign countries because it was hoped those with power will be hampered in doing their normal international business dealings. 'Dmitrii Ovsyannikov was a high-profile official who was appointed by President Vladimir Putin as the governor of Sevastopol after Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia. He knew he had been on the UK sanctions list since 2017, but choose to ignore this. 'Another member of his family sought deliberately to breach the sanctions to live their own lavish lifestyle and show complete disregard for the law. We hope this send a clear message that the CPS and National Crime Agency investigators will work closely together to robustly seek the convictions of sanction busters. 'We will start proceeds of crime proceedings to get back illegally obtained cash and assets.'
Observer
11-04-2025
- Business
- Observer
Former Russian minister jailed for UK sanctions breaches
LONDON: A former governor appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in illegally annexed Crimea has been sentenced by a British court to 40 months' imprisonment for circumventing sanctions, in the first case of its kind. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, once the governor of Sevastopol, was convicted of having tens of thousands of pounds transferred into his newly opened Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) account by his wife, when he knew he was prohibited from doing so. Under the original asset freeze Ovsiannikov was not allowed to spend money even on basic necessities, and others were not permitted to assist him to do so. The case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Regulations 2019. These were imposed after the European Union sanctions ceased to have an effect in the UK post-Brexit. Ovsiannikov was found guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday of six out of seven counts of circumventing sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024. He was sentenced at the same court on Friday to 40 months' imprisonment for each count to be served concurrently. The total amount of time Ovsiannikov will serve was reduced by the 217 days he has spent on curfew, and he will spend up to half of his sentence in custody before he is released on licence. His brother Alexei Owsjanikow, 47, was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for the same amount of time after being convicted of two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 ($53,700) for his sibling's children. Ovsiannikov's wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova was cleared of four countsof circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 into her husband's Halifax account in February 2023. She sent him £1,000 and then a further three instalments of £25,000. Ovsiannikov waved to her after the sentence was handed out and she waved back and smiled. Ahead of sentencing, Rosemary Davidson, defending Ovsiannikov, told the judge that the entire family including the older children has been "de-banked" again after the press reported the conviction. "It's going to be a feature of their lives going forward", she said,adding that Dmitrii "has to live" with the fact this has significantly impacted "those nearest and dear to him". "That is also part of the consequences that he has to bear and continues to bear", she said. Sentencing the two men, Mrs Justice Cockerill said the "weight given" to the fact that the Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing "had to be fairly limited". She said their offending was on the "simple and candid end of the scale - a country mile from the kinds of structures seen in some fraud claims." The funds were transferred by family members into the Halifax bank account in Ovsiannikov's name and "no attempt was made to disguise"the payments, the judge added. The financial gain was "very limited indeed" and "each offence in the banking aspect related to no more than £25,000", she said. Addressing Owsjanikow, Mrs Justice Cockerill said there was "a clear motivation" to support the children as they transitioned to life in the UK and that was "plainly in the hearts of all those involved in this case". The offending was "well, rather than badly, intended in its dominant motive", she added. Putin appointed Ovsiannikov as the governor of Sevastopol in Crimea on July 28, 2016 in a "high-profile political appointment", the court previously heard. He took up the role two years after Russia illegally annexed theregion from Ukraine. - dpa
South China Morning Post
11-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
UK jails former Russia minister for 40 months for violating sanctions
A former Russian government minister who violated British sanctions by receiving significant financial support from family members was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison. Advertisement Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who was appointed governor of Sevastopol in Crimea by Russian President Vladimir Putin, became the first person convicted of violating the sanctions put in place after the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. He set up a British bank account to illegally receive tens of thousands of pounds from his wife and accepted gifts and payments from his brother, prosecutors said. Ovsiannikov, 48, was convicted on Wednesday in London's Southwark Crown Court of six counts of circumventing sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024, and two counts of money laundering. He was sentenced to 40 months behind bars. Ovsiannikov, who also served as deputy minister for industry and trade, was an important political figure placed under European Union sanctions in 2017 for work that threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, prosecutors said. Former Russia government minister and former Mayor of Sevastopol, Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, and his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova arrive at court in London on Monday. Photo: AFP The sanctions prevented him from depositing or withdrawing funds in EU countries. Although the EU sanctions were annulled by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2022, they remained in place in the UK under the Russian Regulations adopted in 2019 as it left the bloc.
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
