British authorities fined Apple $516,000 for violating sanctions against Russia

The European division of Apple has been fined by the UK authorities for violating the sanctions regime against Russia. This was reported on March 30 by the Financial Times newspaper.

According to the decision of the British Financial Sanctions Enforcement Authority, Apple Distribution International (ADI), registered in Ireland, is required to pay a fine of 390 thousand pounds (more than $516 thousand). The reason for the collection was transactions in favor of the Russian streaming service Okko for a total amount of 636 thousand pounds (about $ 786,000), committed in 2022.

According to the publication, the funds were allegedly transferred to the Russian service in two tranches through a British banking institution. Presumably, these transactions were payments for user purchases made through the App Store.

According to the regulator's statement, ADI independently provided information about the transactions shortly after they were conducted. The ministry stressed that such payments, taking into account the high probability, are considered as a direct violation of the current restrictions.

Initially, the company was threatened with a fine of 1 million pounds. However, the amount of the penalty was significantly reduced due to the voluntary disclosure of information and the use of a special discount mechanism, which involves reducing the fine in case the company refuses to appeal the decision in court.

Apple recession: Court scandals hit Apple shares hard

Numerous trials and deception of buyers led to a decrease in demand for gadgets and forced sales.

On January 17, Apple, a gadget developer headquartered in California, appealed seven fines it received for refusing to remove prohibited content promoting non-traditional sexual relations (LGBT. — the movement is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation and is prohibited). It was noted that five of the seven protocols relate to acts of propaganda of non—traditional sexual relations, and the remaining two are for not listening to the decision to remove prohibited content of the relevant content.

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