A Croydon man has been convicted for his role in illegally selling jets and weapons to war zones including Sudan, South Sudan, and Libya. David Greenhalgh, 68, from Croydon, south London, helped broker the supply of ex-Soviet jets, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-tank missiles, and thousands of assault rifles between 2009 and 2016.
Some of the dodgy deals ran into tens of millions of dollars, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). His business partner, Greek national Christos Farmakis, 48, was also found guilty of similar offenses but did not attend trial, and authorities are working to extradite him.
How the scheme operated
The pair acted as middlemen to arrange, transport, and deliver weapons without the required UK licences. To conceal the true destination of the weapons, they used forged end-user certificates falsely claiming the goods were destined for countries not subject to sanctions.
Greenhalgh and Farmakis operated at the centre of a complex international network, sourcing weapons and military equipment from defence ministries in former Soviet states and Soviet-aligned states. Ageing stockpiles of missiles, fighter aircraft, battle tanks, and small arms were available for sale in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, and the Czech Republic.
Because many of their customers were countries desperate for equipment and banned from buying weapons on the open market, they were willing to pay vastly inflated prices.
Routing deals through overseas subsidiaries
Greenhalgh operated through his 'Airservices' group of companies, registered across multiple countries including the UK, Greece, North Macedonia, and South Sudan. He deliberately routed deals through his overseas subsidiaries in an attempt to place transactions beyond UK jurisdiction. As a UK national, he was still subject to UK trade controls wherever in the world he did business.
The men were found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on June 11 2026 after a nine-week trial. They will be sentenced on July 22.
Prosecutor's statement
Anja Hohmeyer, Specialist Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Greenhalgh and Farmakis treated the international arms trade as their personal business opportunity – systematically sourcing weapons from former Soviet states and attempting to channel them into some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, including Libya and South Sudan.
“They knew exactly what they were doing. Their own emails showed them discussing how to evade UK licensing controls, falsify end-user certificates and disguise the true nature of their deals. One document found on Farmakis's device was nothing less than a blueprint for wholesale evasion of the UK's arms controls.
“This conviction sends a clear message: UK arms trafficking and brokering laws apply to anyone subject to this jurisdiction, wherever in the world they try to conduct their business. The CPS will not hesitate to prosecute those who seek to profit from conflict.”
