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A former Russian politician appointed by Vladimir Putin has been found guilty of sanctions breaches and money laundering by a London jury, in the first recent UK criminal prosecution for sanctions violations.
Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, former governor of Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday of six counts of breaching sanctions and two counts of money laundering, according to the UK National Crime Agency.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a seventh sanctions charge.
His brother, Alexei Owsjanikow, was found guilty of two counts of sanctions circumvention and acquitted on three other charges. Ekaterina Ovsiannikova, Dmitrii’s wife, was acquitted of four charges of sanctions breaches. All three defendants are Russian nationals.
The prosecution centred on Dmitrii’s status as a “designated person” on the UK’s sanctions list, which imposed certain financial prohibitions on him in relation to what funds could be made available for his use.
Within weeks of arriving in the UK in 2023, Dmitrii attempted to purchase a £54,000 Mercedes-Benz using money that Ekaterina had transferred to him. When his bank account was frozen, Alexei bought the car for him to use, the prosecution said.
The prosecution claimed that Dmitrii knew he was sanctioned by the UK, despite the fact that he had successfully challenged his designation in the European Union in 2022 and been removed from the EU list.
The jury was told that there was “ample evidence” to show that Dmitrii was aware of his status as a sanctioned individual. When he arrived in the UK, Dmitrii emailed the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office asking for his designation to be revoked, the court heard.
The criminal case was the first to be brought under sanctions legislation introduced in 2018.
Dmitrii and Alexei will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum sentence for circumventing sanctions is seven years imprisonment. The money laundering offences carry a maximum prison sentence of 14 years. Prosecutor said they would also pursue recovering the proceeds of the crime.
Dmitrii’s lawyer declined to comment. Lawyers for the other two defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
