A 41-year-old man from Ettenleur has been arrested by police for evading trade sanctions against Russia by selling computers via third countries. The arrest occurred a week ago but was only

made public on Tuesday. The man has appeared in court and will remain in custody for another two weeks while the investigation progresses.

Prior to the imposition of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, the man had been directly selling computers and computer components to Russia. However, when the sanctions came into effect, he was no longer able to do so legally. Authorities became aware of his activities when he started exporting computers to countries that had either no or limited sanctions in place.

Officials discovered that "considerable numbers" of computers and computer parts were being shipped to Russia through countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Subsequently, the police conducted raids on the man's home and business premises, confiscating his stock and books.

Dodging trade sanctions is a criminal offense and can result in fines depending on the severity of the violation.

In a separate case reported in May, it was revealed that a 55-year-old dual Dutch-Russian national, previously arrested on suspicion of supplying microchips to Russia, had returned to his home country to avoid imprisonment. He continued selling microchips by using a company in the Maldives as a cover.

During the first year of the Russian sanctions, the public prosecution department initiated 45 criminal investigations into companies and individuals suspected of violating the sanctions. Photo by Dickelbers, Wikimedia commons.