H&M Faces Russian Criminal Investigation Over Customs Duties (1)

Russian authorities opened a criminal investigation into clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB for allegedly avoiding 3.1 billion rubles ($42 million) of customs duties.

The Federal Customs Service opened the case in December against H&M’s Russian unit for not including some of the license fees it pays to its Swedish parent in declarations when importing goods from 2016 to 2019, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.

H&M paid 3.1 billion rubles in 2019 to cover the discrepancy after an audit, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the ...