British arms dealer and quango adviser each jailed 16 years for illegal weapons deals

David Greenhalgh and Christos Farmakis brokered black-market sales of fighter jets and missiles to embargoed war zones. Both received 16-year sentences at Southwark Crown Court.

Croydon businessman and Greek adviser convicted of supplying arms to Sudan, Libya and South Sudan

A British businessman and a government-funded quango adviser have each been sentenced to 16 years in prison for brokering illegal arms deals worth tens of millions of pounds, Sky News reports.

David Greenhalgh, 68, from Croydon, and Greek national Christos Farmakis, 48, operated as middlemen in black-market trades involving former Soviet aircraft, surface-to-air and anti-tank missile systems, and thousands of assault rifles. The weapons were destined for war-torn nations including Sudan, South Sudan and Libya.

The pair were convicted in June of unlawful transactions conducted between 2009 and 2016. Greenhalgh was found guilty of 10 counts of being knowingly concerned in acts calculated to promote the unlicensed supply or delivery of controlled goods to an embargoed destination; Farmakis was convicted of nine counts of the same offence. Both were sentenced on Wednesday at Southwark Crown Court.

"Deliberate, sophisticated and financially motivated"

Sentencing the pair, Judge Sally-Ann Hales KC said their offending "was deliberate, sophisticated, financially motivated and persisted over many years", adding that the evidence had established "a long-standing and mutually beneficial criminal enterprise".

The judge was also satisfied that both men had knowingly facilitated corrupt payments to public officials — a route HMRC described as "routinely achieved" — in order to forge end-user certificates that disguised the true destination of the weapons. False documentation claimed the goods were headed for countries not subject to sanctions. Although neither man was charged with bribery, Judge Hales said this constituted a significant aggravating factor.

Prosecutor Edmund Burge KC detailed further aggravation for Greenhalgh: he had continued his involvement in illegal arms trading even after being specifically warned by HMRC in January 2012 that, as a British national, he was required to obtain UK licences for such transactions. Greenhalgh, according to his defence counsel James Hines KC, believed that obligation did not extend to his Greek co-defendant — a position the court did not accept.

Airservices network and "sensitive projects"

Greenhalgh conducted the deals through his Airservices group of companies, registered across multiple jurisdictions including the UK, Greece, North Macedonia and South Sudan. Internal emails referred to the transactions as "sensitive projects". He used the international structure of the group to circumvent British sanctions and trade embargoes.

Judge Hales noted that Greenhalgh had presented at trial as "something of a wheeler and dealer" whose experience had also served legitimate ventures — exporting second-hand clothing to Africa, a sugar refinery, a copper mine and a theme park. "Those achievements make your conscious decision to engage in serious criminal conduct all the more disappointing," she said.

Hines highlighted his client's age and lack of previous convictions in mitigation.

Quango role used as a "respectable facade"

Farmakis exploited his position as an adviser to Greater London Enterprise (GLE) — a body in receipt of local and central government funding — as a front for the illegal deals. Burge told the court that Farmakis had abused his role within GLE and had used fake credentials from UK Trade & Investment to lend "an air of authority and credibility" to himself, his customers and his suppliers. Like Greenhalgh, he continued dealing after being told by a colleague that a UK licence was required.

Farmakis was granted bail during legal proceedings and fled the United Kingdom, meaning he was tried in his absence. Efforts to return him to the UK for sentencing — he is believed to be living in Greece — were unsuccessful, leaving Greenhalgh to stand alone in the dock when judgment was handed down.

HMRC response

Edwige Hill, deputy director in HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, which led the investigation, said: "Strict export licensing controls exist to protect the UK and to ensure that military equipment does not fall into the wrong hands. Greenhalgh knowingly and repeatedly circumvented those controls, forging documents and routing deals through overseas companies to evade detection."

Source: Sky News