In the U.S., Italian businessman Manfred Gruber was sentenced to 18 months for a scheme involving ammunition for Russia

Gruber was the commercial director of the Italian arms company Bignami S.p.A. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, he arranged shipments through JFK Airport of ammunition produced by a company from Nebraska and another supplier from Tennessee.

The shipments were declared as exports to Italy, although under the terms of the license the ammunition was supposed to remain there. The cargo was then routed through Kyrgyzstan to Russia.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said that Gruber was held responsible for a scheme to supply military-grade ammunition in support of Russia’s military aggression.

The case also involved the owner of a Kyrgyz arms distributor, Sergei Zharnovnikov. He previously pleaded guilty and received 39 months in prison.

The key evidence was correspondence found on Zharnovnikov’s phone. It discussed splitting shipments of 100,000 rounds into smaller orders to avoid attracting customs attention.

Sources

• Material: theins.ru