As Ukraine counted three years to the day since Russia started waging war on its eastern front, an Israeli freight forwarder has been sentenced to two years in prison for breaching US sanctions against Russia by dispatching approximately 160 shipments of aircraft parts and avionics.
Gal Haimovich (49) received the custodial sentence on Friday. In addition to his prison term, he faces three years of supervised release and has been ordered to forfeit the proceeds of the scheme, which totalled over $2 million.
The operation involved misleading US companies about the true destinations of the shipments.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice (DoJ), Haimovich and others submitted fraudulent export documentation in an attempt to disguise the nature and endpoint of the shipments.
The DoJ noted that Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company, affiliated with a network of businesses operating in several countries, including the United States and Israel. Through these entities, he facilitated the illegal export of goods to Russia, violating US export controls.
The illicit consignments, which reportedly included missile technology, were dispatched from Florida to third-party transhippers. These intermediaries circumvented US sanctions by routing the goods through firms based in third countries, such as the Maldives, before forwarding them to Russia.
Among Haimovich’s clients was Siberia Airlines, trading as S7 Airlines. The bulk of the shipments took place between March 2022 and May 2023. While the DoJ stated that Haimovich regularly received instructions from Russian end-users to conceal the final destinations from US manufacturers and suppliers, court documents indicated that he had demonstrated significant cooperation during the investigation.
Haimovich’s conviction coincided with the European Council’s announcement of its 16th sanctions package against Russia since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine. The measures now extend restrictions on domestic Russian carriers, barring them from operating flights to, from, or over the European Union. This expansion builds on existing bans affecting Russian airlines.
The sanctions come amid reports that Moscow is considering granting foreign carriers access to its domestic market to mitigate aircraft shortages resulting from the ongoing restrictions.
Additionally, the Council will implement penalties against international companies supplying aircraft or restricted goods to Russian operators serving domestic routes. In a statement, the European Commission expressed support for the latest sanctions, highlighting the EU’s commitment to sustaining pressure on Russia and fostering a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
Further measures in the package include prohibitions on transactions with Moscow's Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports, as well as four regional hubs. The sanctions also introduce a restriction preventing any increase in Russian ownership of EU-based road transport companies beyond 25%, aimed at closing loopholes that could enable circumvention of existing restrictions. – Original source: The Loadstar.
