Latest news with #Owsjanikow
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.
The Independent
11-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Former Russian minister jailed for UK sanctions breaches
A former governor appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in illegally annexed Crimea has been sentenced 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 a newly opened Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) account by his wife, when he knew he was prohibited from doing so. Ovsiannikov had 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 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. Ovsiannikov was found guilty at 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 15 months after being convicted of two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his sibling's children. The case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Regulations 2019. Sentencing the two men, Mrs Justice Cockerill said that the 'weight given' to the fact that the Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing 'had to be fairly limited'. The maximum sentence for breaching the Russia Regulations 2019 is seven years' imprisonment. Ovsiannikov was wearing a blue jumper and Owsjanikow a light-coloured casual jacket and both brothers brought packed bags into the dock. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the Halifax account. His wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, who was in the public gallery on Friday, has been cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. Owsjanikow was cleared of a further three counts of breaching sanctions including buying a Mercedes-Benz worth £54,500 and arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Russian minister jailed for UK sanctions breaches
A former governor appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in illegally annexed Crimea has been sentenced 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 a newly opened Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) account by his wife, when he knew he was prohibited from doing so. Ovsiannikov had 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 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. Ovsiannikov was found guilty at 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 15 months after being convicted of two counts of circumventing sanctions by paying school fees of £41,027 for his sibling's children. The case is the first prosecution in the UK regarding a breach of sanctions under the Russia Regulations 2019. Sentencing the two men, Mrs Justice Cockerill said that the 'weight given' to the fact that the Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing 'had to be fairly limited'. The maximum sentence for breaching the Russia Regulations 2019 is seven years' imprisonment. Ovsiannikov was wearing a blue jumper and Owsjanikow a light-coloured casual jacket and both brothers brought packed bags into the dock. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge that Ovsiannikov deliberately avoided sanctions by opening the Halifax account. His wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, who was in the public gallery on Friday, has been cleared of four counts of circumventing sanctions by assisting with payments totalling £76,000 to her husband in February 2023. Owsjanikow was cleared of a further three counts of breaching sanctions including buying a Mercedes-Benz worth £54,500 and arranging car insurance for Ovsiannikov.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Putin-appointed governor in Crimea found guilty of breaching UK sanctions
LONDON (Reuters) - A Russian politician appointed by President Vladimir Putin as governor of Russia-annexed Crimea's largest city was on Wednesday found guilty of breaching British sanctions, after the first prosecution of its kind. Dmitrii Ovsiannikov – who was appointed governor of Sevastopol in July 2016, two years after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine – was charged with trying to circumvent sanctions between February 2023 and January 2024. Ovsiannikov was found guilty of six counts of circumventing sanctions and two counts of possessing or using criminal property. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a seventh charge of circumventing sanctions. The 48-year-old, who had denied all the charges, will be sentenced at London's Southwark Crown Court on Friday. Ovsiannikov had been accused of getting his wife Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, 47, to pay 76,000 pounds ($97,000) into his account, some of which was so he could buy a Mercedes-Benz SUV. Prosecutors said Ovsiannikov then got his 47-year-old brother Alexei Owsjanikow to buy the car and insurance for it, before Owsjanikow later paid just over 41,000 pounds for his brother's children's private school fees. Owsjanikow and Ovsiannikova faced five and four counts of circumventing sanctions respectively, which they denied. The jury found Owsjanikow guilty of two counts of circumventing sanctions, in relation to the school fees, but he was acquitted in relation to the car and insurance. Ovsiannikova was cleared of all charges. When Ovsiannikov was charged last year, the National Crime Agency said he was the first person to be charged in Britain with breaching sanctions relating to Russia. ($1 = 0.7837 pounds)
