UK businessman faces no charges after admitting to violating Russia sanctions

U.K. businessman David Crisp will not face criminal charges after he was caught on camera admitting to selling luxury perfume in Russia despite government sanctions, the BBC reported on Nov. 24.

Crisp was arrested in 2023 by the U.K. agency responsible for sanctions enforcement, but the investigation was dropped earlier in 2024. There have been no criminal convictions in the U.K. for violating sanctions against Russia since the launch of the full-scale invasion, according to the BBC.

A private investigator filmed Crisp confessing that he knowingly ignored trade sanctions in order to sell high-end perfume in Russia. The video, previously only shown in court, was obtained by the BBC.

The investigator, posing as a Las Vegas businessman, asked Crisp about his dealings in Russia during a conversation in Dallas in July 2023.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Crisp said. “We’re doing really well. … We ignore government edicts. They said we shouldn’t, weren’t allowed to trade there.”

Crisp told the agent that sales in Russia in 2023 were the same as in previous years, but that getting products to Russia — including bottles of perfume worth over $1,200 — was becoming increasingly challenging.

The U.K. imposed sanctions against Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The restricitions specifically include bans on luxury perfume products.

Crisp’s former business partner, David Garofalo, hired the undercover investigator after he became suspicious that Crisp was continuing to sell to Russian customers in violation of sanctions.

Garofolo described Crisp’s statements in the video as “sickening.”

“He had actually gone out of his way to disguise the fact that he’d continued selling to Russia,” Garofalo told the BBC.

“He had deceived our in-house lawyer and misled our auditors.”

After Crisp’s arrest, Garofolo took over full control of the company and halted all sales to Russia.

Despite the evidence against Crisp, which also included company paperwork and international shipping data, the investigation against him was dropped in July 2024. The U.K.’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) agency said it would take no further action against Crisp.

Crisp is alleged to have hidden over $2.1 million in illegal sales to Russia.

U.K. lawmaker Iain Duncan Smith criticized the government’s track record on sanctions enforcement.

“In terms of prosecution and seriously pursuing people over sanctions, the U.K. is very poor indeed,” Smith said.

“If we don’t prosecute, who the hell is deterred from breaching sanctions?”