Sanctions and AWG breaches.
An export ban overlooked, a business partner on a sanctions list, a payment routed through a third country, and suddenly customs investigators or the public prosecutor are investigating. I defend companies and their responsible individuals in cases involving the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG) and EU sanctions: reachable at short notice, discreet, and with an eye for international business.
Call in confidence · +49 69 24746870
The goods, the recipient,
the route.
When a transaction turns into an investigation.
Search by customs investigators
The Customs Criminological Office or the public prosecutor is at the door. We are reachable at short notice and take over immediately.
Allegation of sanctions circumvention
Russia embargo, listed recipients, circumvention via third countries, we test the allegations and build the defence.
Export without authorisation
Dual-use goods or licence-controlled items delivered without the required export authorisation.
Third-country and circumvention transactions
Supply chains via third states, unclear end users, hidden flows of goods.
Account freezes and confiscation
Frozen assets, blocked accounts, threatened confiscation of the proceeds of an offence.
Suspicion within your own company
You want to examine an internal suspicion before the authorities become active, discreetly and with a sense of proportion.
A field where business and politics meet.
Export-control criminal law governs what companies may and may not do across borders. Since the extensive EU sanctions against Russia it has turned, for many exporting companies, from a niche topic into a tangible threat. Mistakes often happen not out of bad faith, but in complex supply chains, with new listings or unclear end users.
Companies and responsible individuals can become criminally liable in particular for intentional breaches of embargoes and export bans (section 18 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act, AWG), for breaches of authorisation requirements (section 19 AWG), and for exporting licence-controlled dual-use goods without authorisation. Added to this are corporate fines against the company (§ 30 OWiG) and confiscation of the proceeds of the offence. Responsibility attaches not only to the company, but personally to management and export officers.
Good defence starts early: it places the allegations on a factual footing, separates actual breaches from official overstatement, and at the same time protects the company's ability to operate, supply relationships, accounts, reputation.
Closely related is customs criminal law and smuggling, particularly in circumvention and third-country cases, the two fields interlock. We defend both from a single source.
A particular focus: Chinese-led companies in Germany.
Chinese-led companies in particular come under the scrutiny of customs and investigating authorities more often than average, on sanctions, customs and export questions as well as in proceedings of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Alongside the legal questions come cultural and communication specifics that decide between success and misunderstanding.
I have defended clients with an international and Chinese dimension for years. I do not speak Chinese, but I know the culture, the manners and the expectations, and that has never been an obstacle; more often it is the reason the collaboration works. Whoever understands both sides loses no time to misunderstandings in a crisis.
One partner. From the first call to the conclusion.
From the outset you speak with the partner who actually runs your case, not with an apparatus.
AWG, sanctions and customs: briefly explained.
What are the consequences of a breach of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (AWG)?
Intentional breaches of embargoes and export bans are punishable under section 18 AWG and can carry a custodial sentence; in serious cases, several years. In addition there is confiscation of the proceeds of the offence, corporate fines against the company (§ 30 OWiG) and considerable reputational and supply-chain risks.
What does circumvention of sanctions mean?
Circumvention refers to disguising an embargo through detours, for example deliveries to sanctioned recipients via third countries, or false information about the end user. Even negligent conduct can be subject to a fine or criminal penalty.
Customs investigators have searched my premises, what should I do immediately?
Stay calm, make no statements on the matter and sign nothing, have the search warrant handed to you, do not alter or delete any documents or data, and instruct a lawyer without delay. We are reachable at short notice.
Can managing directors and employees be personally liable to prosecution?
Yes. Criminal responsibility attaches to natural persons, management, export officers and, in individual cases, employees. In addition the company itself can be pursued through corporate fines.
What are dual-use goods?
Goods with a dual (civil and military) use. Their export requires authorisation under the EU Dual-Use Regulation. Exporting without the required authorisation can be a criminal offence.
The information on this page is general in nature and does not replace advice on the individual case.
Let's talk,
in confidence.
Suspicion, a search or open questions on sanctions and the AWG? Speak directly with the partner.
Call in confidence · +49 69 24746870