Police have arrested a 41-year-old man from Ettenleur for dodging trade sanctions against Russia by selling computers via third countries.

The arrest took place a week ago but was only made public on Tuesday. The man has since appeared in court and will be held in custody for another two weeks while the investigation continues.

The man had been selling computers and computer components directly to Russia on a regular basis but could no longer do so when sanctions were imposed following the invasion of Ukraine.

He appeared on the radar when he then started to export computers to countries that did not have any, or limited, sanctions in place.

“Considerable numbers” of computers and computer parts had been shipped to Russia via Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and the United Arab Emirates, officials found.

Police subsequently raided the man’s home and business premises and seized his stock and books.

Dodging sanctions is a criminal offence and subject to a fine, depending on the seriousness of the infringement.

In May, the AD reported that a 55-year-old dual Dutch Russian national who was last year arrested on suspicion of supplying microchips to Russia had gone back to his home country to avoid jail.

He had continued to sell microchips, using a company in the Maldives as cover.

The public prosecution department started 45 criminal investigations into companies and private individuals suspected of breaking Russian sanctions in the first year that they were in force.