Dan-Bunkering Continued to Sell Jet Fuel After Danish Regulator Raised Concerns

The court case is set to resume on Tuesday with testimony from Bunker Holding CEO Keld Demant. File Image / Pixabay

Dan-Bunkering continued to sell jet fuel to Russian customers after receiving a warning from Danish regulators that it could be ending up in Syria, according to prosecutors seeking to show the company breached EU sanctions.

The company received a letter from the Danish Business Authority in late December 2016 saying it suspected it was selling jet fuel that was ending up in Syria, newspaper Fyens Stiftsidende reported on Thursday.

The company then approached both Russian firms it was selling to -- Sofracht and Maritime Assistance -- to confirm that they were not breaking any sanctions, and both companies said that they were not, Dan-Bunkering CEO Claus Bulch Klausen told the Danish court hearing the case on Thursday, according to the newspaper report.

The company replied to the Danish regulator in January 2017 saying that the fuel had not ended up in Syria.

In February 2017 Maritime Assistance requested more jet fuel. Dan-Bunkering's trading team in Kaliningrad was prepared to proceed with the trade, the court heard, but a Dan-Bunkering legal officer raised the concern that the company had been warned the jet fuel it was selling was in all likelihood being sent to Syria.

The lawyer suggested adding a line in the contract stating that the buyer could not resell the fuel for use in Syria.

The company completed an additional eight trades with its Russian counterparties after receiving the letter from the Danish Business Authority, according to the newspaper report.

The case against Dan-Bunkering, its parent firm Bunker Holding and CEO Keld Demant, being heard at a court in Odense, revolves around 33 jet fuel deals with Russian counterparties in 2015-2017. The prosecution alleges the defendants breached EU sanctions because the fuel ended up in Syria.

The two companies and Demant deny the charges, and Bunker Holding has said its internal investigations have found no evidence of any employee having knowledge of sanctions breaches.

The case is set to continue on Tuesday, with Keld Demant giving evidence. Recordings of phone calls made by senior executives may be played, Fyens Stiftsidende said.