Praetorian Connections

Following the rapid expansion in the use of export controls in recent years, the compliance risks of inadvertently or intentionally breaching these controls have increased dramatically. In order to help a client understand the sanctions risk relating to a Europe-based electronics supplier, Praetorian leveraged its significant supply chain investigative experience to research this company’s foreign buyers.

The Kazakhstan Detour

The investigation sought to understand the company’s export of goods belonging to the Common High Priority List (CHPL), which are subject to more stringent export controls because of their potential use in Russian military hardware. An analysis of the company’s supply chain indicated that it had directly supplied CHPL components to Russia in 2022, including to companies linked to Russia’s defence manufacturing sector. Further analysis showed that its exports had shifted to Kazakhstan, a known sanctions evasion and transhipment hub, from 2023 onwards. The same analysis also identified that the company’s Kazakhstan-based buyers were selling the same components to a Hong Kong-based company which, in turn, was supplying companies in Russia. Further research into the original European company showed that it had been owned by a Belarusian national until Apr 2022, which highlighted an important red flag in Russia related sanctions. Taken together, Praetorian’s investigation uncovered serious compliance risks, enabling the client to fully assess the potential compliance risk exposure stemming from this company’s activities.

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Emerging Technology

A key thematic is identifying technologies utilised within the geopolitical and security space. Identifying new equipment and understanding their ecosystems and how they relate to other technologies. This information is available as structured data for direct ingestion into client systems or as deep dive reporting.

Verified Events

Praetorian’s events reporting uses linguist analysts with deep knowledge of information environments. Their ability to harness leading edge technology, within a human in the loop ecosystem, ensures we are able to access unique primary source reporting, safely and securely from hard to access environments. Working as a multi-source digital collection platform we access data from a broad spectrum, collating, validating and fusing to ensure outputs are assured and actionable.

Organised Crime

Praetorian has supported law-enforcement agencies and large scale corporates in understanding high level organised crime operations. Producing intelligence that can be used as evidence we have been able to assist business to ensure they are not in breach of compliance regulations, whilst supporting law-enforcement in actively disrupting organised crime syndicates.

Geo-Political Indicators

By collating multi-source data relating to specific information environments, Praetorian’s Linguist Analysts look for trends that can build towards conflict or instability. Monitoring across thematics has allowed clients to position their organisation prior to an event happening, with key indicators and warnings being identified from unique sources. Focus ranges from conflict escalation through to supply chain analysis and manufacturing disruption modelling.

Goods belonging to the common high priority list

Supply Chain Investigations

Sanctions Compliance

In order to help a FTSE 100 client understand the risk of breaching Russia-related sanctions, Praetorian carried out a short-turnaround investigation into a UAE-based company that synthesised local enquiries with a data-led, deep-dive analysis. This highlighted senior management relationships between the company and a Russian company with links to the military establishment.