British businessman jailed over illegal arms deals to war zones worth millions

A British businessman and an adviser to a quango funded by the UK government have each been jailed for 16 years after brokering illegal arms deals to send fighter jets and weapons to war zones.

David Greenhalgh, 68, and Greek national Christos Farmakis, 48, were found guilty in June over the deals worth tens of millions of pounds between 2009 and 2016.

The pair acted as middlemen for the black market supply of ex-Soviet jets, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-tank missiles, and thousands of assault rifles to be sent to war-torn countries including Sudan, South Sudan and Libya.

Farmakis used his position as an adviser to Greater London Enterprise (GLE), a body with local and government funding, as a respectable facade while conducting the illegal deals, their trial at Southwark Crown Court heard.

Greenhalgh, a businessman from Croydon, was convicted of 10 counts of being knowingly concerned in acts calculated to promote unlicensed supply or delivery of controlled goods to an embargoed destination.

Farmakis was convicted of nine counts of the same offence.

Judge Sally-Ann Hales KC, who sentenced the pair to 16 years' imprisonment each on Wednesday, said: "Their offending was deliberate, sophisticated, financially motivated and persisted over many years.

"The evidence established a long-standing and mutually beneficial criminal enterprise."

Greenhalgh was alone in the dock, while Farmakis, who fled the UK after being granted bail, was tried in his absence.

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Attempts were made to have Farmakis brought back to the UK for sentencing from where he is believed to be living in Greece but he remained absent from the hearing in London.

HMRC said the men forged end-user certificates to disguise the destination of the weapons, falsely claiming the goods were destined for countries not subject to sanctions.

The judge said this was "routinely achieved" through "corrupt payments to public officials".

She said Greenhalgh presented at trial "as someone who is something of a wheeler and dealer" who was able to use his experience for projects including exporting second-hand clothing to Africa, a sugar refinery, copper mine or a theme park.

"Those achievements make your conscious decision to engage in serious criminal conduct all the more disappointing," she added.

Prosecutor Edmund Burge KC pointed to Farmakis' "abuse of his role" within GLE and the use of fake credentials from government agency UK Trade & Investment "to give himself, to his customers and his suppliers an air of authority and credibility".

He also continued to be involved in illegal arms deals after being told by a colleague that he needed a UK licence, Mr Burge said.

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