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Two individuals have been convicted in a United Kingdom court for orchestrating an illegal arms brokering scheme that attempted to deliver various weapons, including fighter jets and surface-to-air missile systems, to war-torn regions. The convicted men, David Greenhalgh, aged 68, and Christos Farmakis, 48, were found guilty of facilitating weapons supplies originating from Eastern European countries intended for several conflict areas such as Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, Iraq, and Iran.
The Southwark Crown Court delivered guilty verdicts on Thursday for eight counts of unlawful arms trafficking against both men. Greenhalgh, a British citizen from Croydon, faced two additional charges, while Farmakis, a Greek national who was tried in absentia, was found guilty of an extra count. Farmakis operated through a Cyprus-based company named Black Betty Consulting, managing negotiations for the arms deals, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Meanwhile, Greenhalgh owned and controlled the internationally active Airservices group, with business operations spread across the UK, Greece, Macedonia, Hong Kong, and South Sudan. It was revealed that he leveraged this global network to obscure the transactions from UK authorities.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) clarified that despite the transactions taking place beyond UK borders, Greenhalgh remained bound by UK trade controls as a British national conducting business worldwide. Between July 2009 and December 2016, the duo pursued arms deals with countries that were subject to UK arms embargoes. HMRC noted that buyers in these conflict zones were eager to acquire military equipment and were even prepared to pay significantly inflated prices, with some individual deals valued in the tens of millions of dollars. The weaponry involved included an array of military hardware, such as combat helicopter gunships, battle tanks, anti-tank missile launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, fighter jets, and surface-to-air missile systems capable of downing aircraft.
Email communications uncovered in the investigation showed Greenhalgh discussing a plan to provide 100,000 AK-47 rifles to South Sudan and expressing concern about the scrutiny of paperwork by European authorities. Additionally, both men contemplated forging documents and moving shipments through third-party countries to disguise the final destinations of the arms. Edwige Hill, Deputy Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, condemned their conduct, stating they had “showed a blatant disregard for international sanctions, seeking to profit from the illegal supply of weapons.” Hill emphasized that the court’s decision sends a “clear warning” to anyone attempting to supply weapons to embargoed or sanctioned regions. Anja Hohmeyer, a Specialist Prosecutor from the CPS, underscored the agency’s commitment to prosecuting those who exploit conflict for profit. Sentencing for Greenhalgh and Farmakis is scheduled for 22 July
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