Perfume boss admitted he ignored Russia sanctions
5 min read
David Crisp sold his high-end perfume in Russia. Facebook
A British businessman caught on camera confessing he was illegally selling luxury perfume to Russia is not facing criminal charges, the BBC has learned.
David Crisp admitted to an undercover investigator that he had “ignored government edicts” on sanctions by selling the £1,000-a-bottle perfume in Russia.
The BBC can now exclusively show the undercover video, which has previously only been shared in court.
Mr Crisp was arrested in 2023 by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – the UK government agency responsible for sanctions enforcement – but the investigation was dropped earlier this year. This is despite the discovery of evidence that he tried to conceal more than £1.7m of illegal sales.
Mr Crisp, from Surrey, denies knowingly breaching sanctions or concealing trades with Russia.
There has not been a single UK criminal conviction for violating trade sanctions on Russia, the BBC understands, since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
Failing to punish violators is “a bad signal to send” and makes the UK look like a “soft touch,” says senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who has been calling for tougher action against Russia.
Mr Crisp travelled the world selling high-end perfume, regularly rubbing shoulders with celebrities and VIPs, who were unaware of his activities in Russia.
But when he started chatting to a friendly American in the lift of a luxury hotel in Dallas in July last year, he had no idea he was actually speaking to a private investigator.
Posing as a Las Vegas businessman, the agent said he was interested in stocking Mr Crisp’s perfumes. They later met in Crisp’s hotel room to smell the fragrances – where the investigator secretly filmed the conversation.
“How’s your Russian market?” the investigator asked. “Don’t tell anyone.” Mr Crisp replied, “We’re doing really well… we ignore government edicts.”
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the UK government introduced sanctions banning trade with Russia in several areas – perfumes are specifically named. Breaching these regulations is a serious offence, with a maximum prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Following the introduction of sanctions, Mr Crisp had agreed with his then-business partner, David Garofalo, to cease trading with Russia. But Mr Garofalo later became suspicious after a whistleblower claimed that Crisp continued to sell perfume in Moscow. Mr Garofalo then hired the private investigators.
The undercover footage is “sickening” David Garofalo told me as we watch the footage together, adding “he knows that he’s violating the sanctions”.
About The Author
