Danish Court Reveals Bunker Holding Charged in Dan-Bunkering Syria Case

The investigations into the Syrian jet trading case continue. Image Credit: File Image / Pixabay

Marine fuels group Bunker Holding and its CEO have been charged in relation to an investigation into alleged jet fuel trading in Syria that may have breached EU sanctions, a Danish court has revealed.

The group's subsidiary Dan-Bunkering was charged in the case, which centres on a cargo of jet fuel that may have ended up being used for Russian military operations in Syria, in September.

Bunker Holding and its CEO Keld Demant were also charged in September, but were subject to a naming ban that was lifted by Denmark's Eastern High Court Monday, according to the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Demant is chairman of the board of Dan-Bunkering as well as CEO of Bunker Holding.

Another individual who was charged remains subject to a naming ban, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation said.

"As chairman of the board [of Dan-Bunkering], I carry the overall responsibility for the company, but obviously I am not involved in the approximately 20,000 trades that Dan-Bunkering handles every year," Demant said in a statement Tuesday. "To date, the eight Danish authorities investigating the case haven't found any trades violating the sanctions.

"The US authorities also investigating the case, have already cleared Dan-Bunkering of suspicion. I anticipate that the Danish authorities will draw the same conclusion without another 3 years of investigations."

Dan-Bunkering has investigated its involvement in 29 trades from 2015-2017 that allegedly related to the case, and has found no "concrete irregularities" in them that could have contravened sanctions against Syria in that period, it said. 

The company noted the total value of the trades was approximately $1 million before tax, less than 0.2% of Dan-Bunkering's total turnover.