David Crisp, a British businessman caught on camera admitting to illegally selling luxury perfume to Russia, is not facing criminal charges, according to the BBC. Crisp admitted to an undercover private investigator that he had sold a bottle of “Boadicea the Victorious” perfume worth £1,000 ($1,385) in Russia, in breach of UK sanctions introduced after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Crisp was arrested by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK agency responsible for enforcing the sanctions, but the case was dropped, despite evidence that he tried to mask over £1.7m ($2.4m) of illegal sales.
Crisp, who denies knowingly selling to Russia in contravention of sanctions, previously sold high-end perfume globally, often to celebrities and VIPs. He was approached by an American private investigator posing as a Las Vegas businessman who was interested in stocking Crisp’s perfumes. The pair met in a hotel room in Dallas, where the investigator secretly filmed Crisp admitting to ignoring the new sanctions before travelling to Russia.
Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith argues that the failure to punish those who breach sanctions is “a bad signal to send” and could appear to make the UK look like a “soft touch”. HMRC has reportedly not pursued criminal charges in regard to trade sanctions with Russia since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
While Crisp’s case is not unique, it highlights the issue of businesspeople flouting trade sanctions and the UK’s apparent unwillingness to prosecute. Duncan Smith states that the government had hoped sanctions would act as a deterrent, but has failed to enforce them. Meanwhile, Tim Ash from the foreign affairs think tank Chatham House argues that cases like Crisp’s send a message that there are no consequences for continuing business with Russia, leading to a lack of deterrent
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