International arms dealer Michael Ranger was today found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of promoting the supply or delivery of hand held surface to air missiles and Beretta pistols to Azebaijan, contrary to arms embargos. He was sentenced to 3.5 years for the missiles and 2.5 years for the handguns, to run concurrently.
Elspeth Pringle, Arms Brokering Lawyer for the CPS Central Fraud Division said:
“Michael Ranger is an established international arms dealer who knew full well that a license for supplying weapons to Azerbaijan would be impossible to obtain. Accordingly, he tried to disguise his illegal dealings with false email accounts and by using a company registered in Hong Kong under the name of his girlfriend.
“Central to the case was whether Ranger intended to evade bans on supplying arms to Azerbaijan. The court heard that in email correspondence with his arms supplier in North Korea, Ranger boasted that he had been a guest of the Azerbaijani government and was driven round in a Lexus limousine whilst on business there to discuss the supply of Man-Portable Infrared Homing Surface to Air Missiles. It also heard how he told the US manufacturers of Berettas pistols that he had secured orders from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations following a meeting with ‘two people directly under the President’ in February 2010. The jury agreed that the evidence clearly demonstrated Ranger’s intention to disregard the embargos and duly delivered a conviction.
“Ranger’s dealings with Azerbaijan were not only illegal, but potentially very dangerous. Arms embargos are in place for a reason and those who seek to ignore them in the hope of lining their own pocket should understand that they are liable to prosecution in the criminal courts.”
Background Information:
There is currently an arms embargo in place prohibiting the export of military goods destined for Azerbaijan. This was put in place in February 1992 at the request of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) because of a military conflict in a region known as Nagorno-Karabakh. The prohibitions extend not only to exports from the UK to Azerbaijan but also the trade/movement of by persons operating in the UK or UK citizens from any third country to Azerbaijan. This applies to Mr Ranger as a UK citizen attempting to supply arms to Azerbaijan from both North Korea and the U.S.
Mr Ranger is an established international arms dealer who trades in the UK principally through a limited company, Imperial Defence Services, a legitimate business he has operated for many years. Records show that Ranger had not at any time obtained, or sought to obtain, an authorisation from the Department of Business of Innovation and Skills (BIS) in relation to the agreeing, or promoting, a supply of the weapons to Azerbaijan.
