facebookA British businessman who was caught on camera confessing to illegally selling luxury perfumes to Russia will not face criminal charges, the BBC has learned.
David Crisp admitted to undercover investigators that he had sold Boadicea the Victorious perfume in Russia for £1,000 a bottle and “ignored government edicts” regarding sanctions.
The BBC will now have exclusive access to undercover videos that were previously only shared in court.
Mr Crisp was arrested in 2023 by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK government agency responsible for enforcing sanctions, but the investigation was closed earlier this year. This was despite evidence discovered that he had tried to cover up more than £1.7m of illegal sales.
Mr Crisp, from Surrey, denies knowingly breaching sanctions or concealing his dealings with Russia.
The BBC understands that no one has been convicted in the UK for breaching trade sanctions against Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in earnest almost three years ago.
Not punishing offenders is a “bad signal to send” and appears to be a “soft touch” from the UK, said senior Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, who has called for tougher action against Russia. say.
Mr. Crisp traveled the world selling luxury perfumes and regularly interacted with celebrities and VIPs who were unaware of his activities in Russia.
But when he started chatting with a friendly American in an elevator at a luxury hotel in Dallas last July, he had no idea he was actually talking to a private investigator.
The agent posed as a Las Vegas businessman and said he was interested in purchasing Mr. Crisp’s perfume. Later, the two met in Crisp’s hotel room for a sniff, and investigators secretly filmed their conversation.
“What about the Russian market?” the agent asked. “Don’t tell anyone,” Crisp replied, “we’re doing very well…we’re ignoring government orders.”
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UK government introduced sanctions banning trade with Russia in several areas – perfume was named in particular. Violating these regulations is a serious crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
After sanctions were introduced, Crisp and his then-business partner David Garofalo agreed to suspend trade with Russia. But Garofalo later became suspicious after a whistleblower claimed that Crisp continued to sell perfume in Moscow. So Garofalo hired a private investigator.
As we watched the footage together, David Garofalo told me the undercover footage was “disgusting,” adding: “He knows he’s violating sanctions.”
The company also compiled documentary evidence showing that Crisp knowingly violated sanctions without his knowledge.
Staff also discovered a pallet of goods at the company’s UK facility containing documents identifying recipients in Russia and international shipping data confirming delivery. A product that the company just launched after the sanctions were imposed was found on sale in Moscow.
“In fact, he went out of his way to hide the fact that he was continuing to sell to Russia,” Garofalo said. “He misled his in-house lawyers and misled his auditors.”
Mr Garofalo reported Mr Crisp to HMRC, who launched a criminal investigation. At the same time, Mr. Garofalo filed a civil suit to remove his partners from the firm.
In July, a High Court judge issued an unprecedented interim injunction, meaning Crisp will be immediately removed from office until the civil trial is fully concluded.
In his ruling, the judge said the undercover video was “compelling evidence” that Mr. Crisp was aware of the sanctions violations and that corporate reports showed that Mr. Crisp was “concealing his dealings with Russia.” He said that it shows that.
After Garofalo took full control of the company, he immediately halted all sales to Russia.
David Crisp told the BBC in a statement: “I strongly refute the allegations against me by Mr. Garofalo. I have never knowingly entered into any transactions that would violate Russian sanctions…I have never attempted to conceal those transactions. …The company’s” dealings with Russia were well known to those in the industry…We look forward to being completely exonerated. ”
facebookHMRC officers arrested Mr Crisp upon his arrival at Gatwick Airport in October 2023 and seized his passport.
However, by July this year, HMRC closed the investigation, told Mr Crisp that no further action would be taken and handed back his passport.
Mr Garofalo said he was shocked that HMRC showed no interest in the evidence he had collected. “It was an open and closed case. The evidence was irrefutable.”
HMRC does not comment on individual cases, but told the BBC that failing to comply with sanctions is a serious offense and those who breach could face enforcement action, including financial fines and criminal prosecution. Ta.
The statement added: “HMRC has fined five companies in the past two years for breaching Russia sanctions rules, including a £1 million fine imposed in August 2023.”
However, the BBC understands that there have been no criminal prosecutions for breaching trade sanctions against Russia since February 2022.
Iain Duncan Smith, chairman of the parliamentary committee working on sanctions against Russia, told the BBC that the Crisp incident was not a “one-off”.
“The UK is really poor in terms of serious public pursuit of prosecutions and sanctions,” Sir Ian said. “If we don’t prosecute, who is going to deter sanctions violations?
He said other countries, including the US, were “light years” ahead of the UK in prosecuting offenders.
“They need to be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. If we don’t do that, there’s no such thing as sanctions.”
The former Conservative Party leader said HMRC often reached settlements instead of imposing large fines or convictions.
“Authorities may say sanctions violations are too small to prosecute, but the answer is to prosecute the small ones, because the big ones need to know you’re after them too. “Because there is,” he added.
Tim Ash of Chatham House, a diplomatic think tank, said the British government had hoped the sanctions would act as a deterrent without requiring strong enforcement.
“The reality is that the lure and huge profits of doing business with Russia are too much for some people,” Asch explained.
“They are more interested in their own interests, not the bottomless pit of Ukrainians dying.”
He said incidents like Crisp’s send a clear message that there will be no consequences for continuing to do business with Russia.
“It’s been almost three years since the (full-scale) invasion began, and the fact that no sanctions regime is in place is extremely abnormal.”
