German arms manufacturer fined £3m for illegal gun sales to Mexico

One of Germany’s best known arms manufacturers was fined €3.7m (£3.2m) by the country’s courts on Thursday for illegal weapons sales to Mexico.

The fine was imposed after employees at Heckler and Koch were found guilty of shipping around 5,000 G36 assault rifles and smaller weapons to Mexico between 2006 and 2009 in contravention of German export restrictions.

Two former employees of the company were handed suspended jail sentences by a Stuttgart court, while two former directors and a sales manager were acquitted of involvement.

The scandal centres on shipments of arms to areas of Mexico affected by drug trade violence and kidnappings.

Germany is one of the biggest arms manufacturers in the world but operates strict export controls, and bans weapons sales to the regions in question.

“This case is not a trial of German arms policy,” Judge Frank Maurer said as he delivered the verdict. Whether arms exports are allowed is purely a political decision, not a legal one.”

Testimony heard in the course of the trial described how paperwork for the exports was drawn up to hide the weapons’ final destination.

There were boos in court when Peter Beyerle, the arms manufacturer’s former CEO, was acquitted .

Only two relatively junior staff were found guilty of wrongdoing. A former sales manager was fined €80,000 (£69,000) and given a 22-month suspended sentence, while a former secretary was given a 17-month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service.

Heckler and Koch issued a statement saying it would “examine today's judgment carefully”. But the company added:  “We cannot understand why the court wants to seize not only the profit earned by the Mexico business, but the entire purchase price, although no member of the management has committed a criminal offense.”

The €3.7m fine is based on the value of the exported arms at the time.

The verdict comes after a private letter from Jeremy Hunt to the German government urging it to reconsider its ban on arms exports to Saudia Arabia was leaked to the press.

The Foreign Secretary complained that the German ban, imposed after the murder of Jamal Kashoggi, was damaging British exporters who could not fulfil Saudi contracts because they could not obtain parts from German partner companies.

A spokesman for Angela Merkel's government said Germany had no plans to change its policy.