Long Reach of U.S. Law

"These defendants tricked, lied, and defrauded American citizens in order to profit from these illegal rhinoceros hunts," stated George Beck, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama.

"Not only did they break South African laws, but they laundered their ill-gotten gains through our banks here in Alabama. We will not allow United States citizens to be used as a tool to destroy a species that is virtually harmless to people or other animals."

The Groenewalds and Out of Africa are being charged under several U.S. laws, including the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act is a powerful legal tool that makes it a crime to knowingly sell in interstate and foreign commerce wildlife that was taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of foreign law. In this case, it refers to selling animal hunts that violated South African law.

"This case is intended to send a message to outfitters and professional hunters: The long reach of U.S. law will catch up to you if you involve our country and our hunters in criminal enterprises abroad," says Jean Williams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "If you sell your illegal hunts here, you are subject to prosecution here, regardless of where the hunt takes place.

"This case is also a cautionary tale for American hunters. As a consumer market, we have a special obligation to make sure that we are following the rules designed to protect both U.S. and foreign wildlife."

Cooperation From South Africa

During the investigation into this illegal hunting scheme, U.S. authorities received substantial cooperation from South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority and the specialized endangered species unit within the organized crime unit of the South African Police Service, known as the Hawks.

"The fact that defendants used American hunters to execute this scheme is appalling—but not as appalling as the brutal tactics they employed to kill 11 critically endangered wild rhinos," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.

"South Africa has worked extraordinarily hard to protect its wild rhino population, using trophy hunts as a key management tool. The illegal hunts perpetrated by these criminals undermine that work and the reputation of responsible hunters everywhere."

Groenewald Charged in South Africa

Dawie Groenewald is the head of a rhino poaching and trafficking syndicate known in South Africa as the "Groenewald Gang" or "Musina Mafia." He was arrested in 2010 along with ten others, including his wife, veterinarians, and professional hunters. (Neither Janneman Groenewald nor Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris was included.)

The South African indictment is 637 pages long and charges the group with 1,872 counts of illegal hunting, dealing in rhino horns, racketeering, money laundering, and fraud.

According to the book Killing for Profit, by Julien Rademeyer, Dawie Groenewald alone faces 1,736 counts that stem from his allegedly having illegally sold at least 384 rhino horns over a four-year period, having killed more than 39 of his own rhinos for their horns, and illegally dehorning more than 80 others.

That case has dragged on for almost four years, with trials postponed several times. The most recent, set for July 2014, was postponed to August 4, 2015, to allow conclusion of a civil suit regarding the constitutionality of current regulations for endangered and protected species.

The Groenewald group allegedly made about $6.8 million from the illegal sale of rhino horn.