Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is targeting a network led by Belgian serial offender Hans De Geetere involved in procuring electronics with military applications for Russian end-users.
Concurrent with OFAC’s action, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed two separate indictments against De Geetere related to his years-long scheme to unlawfully export sensitive, military-grade technology from the United States to end users located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is also concurrently adding Hans De Geetere and five entities to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List. Additionally, Belgian authorities took action against De Geetere on charges related to his global illicit procurement scheme.
HANS DE GEETERE AND COMPANIES
Hans De Geetere is a Belgian businessman and long-time procurement agent for Russia who serves as the director of several companies in Belgium, Cyprus, and the Netherlands. De Geetere has coordinated the procurement of electronics for Russian customers, including field programmable gate arrays (FPGA)—high priority semiconductor devices sought by Russia for its weapons programs.
De Geetere operates Belgium-based Knokke Heist Support Corporation Management (Knokke Heist), Cyprus-based Eriner Limited (Eriner), Cyprus-based The Mother Ark Ltd (The Mother Ark), and Netherlands-based European Trading Technology B.V. (European Trading Technology).
COMPANIES LINKED TO ERINER AND THE MOTHER ARK
In some cases, De Geetere and his network have attempted to ship electronics to Russia via transshipment points in Hong Kong, China, and Türkiye. The De Geetere-led company Eriner has repeatedly conducted business with the Hong Kong based company M and S Trading, and coordinated electronics orders for Russia, including orders for integrated circuits of the same model as those identified in Russian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) recovered in Ukraine.
INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES LINKED TO THE DE GEETERE NETWORK
In addition to the companies that he formally directs, De Geetere’s network includes the Belgium-based company European Technical Trading (ETT), founded and led by his brother, Tom De Geetere. De Geetere has leveraged the ETT brand in attempted purchases from U.S. and European companies. In addition to his role as the founder and Director of ETT, Tom De Geetere has coordinated with his brother to procure UAV engines.
De Geetere has involved the Russian national Vladimir Kulemekov (Kulemekov) in multiple business dealings, including coordinating electronics orders for Russian entities. Kulemekov was previously employed by De Geetere and has been identified as a member of the previously designated Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU).
In September 2022, De Geetere-controlled entity Hasa-Invest was added to the US sanctions list, for procurement of dual-use accellerometers for China. This sanction was lifted after 180 days. The company declared bankruptcy later that year, having failed to report its financial results since 2014. De Geetere established a new company in Cyprus the followng year.
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