Heard today from SA that Hugo Ras (of Ras Safaris) has been caught with 22 million rand worth rhino horn.

I do not know the detail.

Off to Boma dinner now & flying out tomorrow after some fishing.

That a start. Moving up the food chain is always good.

I think you'll find he's being held in custody and has been for a while and that the court case is going on now.

My guess is the money referred to in the original post refers to the charges Ras and the rest of his scumbag gang are currently facing.

This has been and will continue to be one of the slowest investigations and trials in RSA.

Well, at the end of this food chain is a Chinese individual, I would think.

Dutch

with a Vietnamese 3 feet in front of him.

That Hugo Raas has one of the worst reputations in SA. The amount of land owners that he has screwed over especially in that Hoedspruit area.There are a lot of farmers out there that would love to get there hands on him. If Iam correct about 7 odd years ago he had a huge double page add in the SCI magazine claiming to be the owner of chobe 1&2 in Botswana when he wasn't. His dishonesty has been going on for a long time

Pistorius walked from a far more serious criminal charge .....

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfr...nted-by-FBI-20141004


Rhino 'poacher' wanted by FBI
2014-10-04 07:00

Durban - Abraham Smit, the brother-in-law of alleged rhino poaching kingpin Hugo Ras, had been on the run for more than three years and is wanted by Interpol and the FBI, the Daily News reported on Friday.

Smit allegedly swindled American Jackie Atkinson out of $600 000. When he failed to turn up for court proceedings, a default judgment of almost $1.1m was issued against him by the Superior Court of California in Tulare county.

The judge also issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Daily News quoted the Federal Bureau of Investigations' public information officer, Special Agent Gina Swankie, as saying that Smit is wanted for fleeing criminal prosecution and on six counts of wire fraud, which related to investment fraud.

The Citizen online reported on Friday that Smit, 36, commonly known as Arno, and three others, had been denied bail in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court.

Eyewitness news reported that details of Interpol's arrest warrant for Smit were expected to be placed on record during the bail application.

He is allegedly one of 10 members of a rhino poaching syndicate, allegedly led by Ras, who were arrested on 19 September.

They face 318 charges, including theft, fraud, malicious damage to property, money laundering, intimidation, and the illegal possession of firearms.

Apart from Smit, Ras's wife Trudie, as well as Bonnie Steyn and Willem van Jaarsveld were denied bail by Pretoria Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair, who, according to The Citizen online, said the State had a strong case.

- SAPA

"Denied bail" in RSA would I assume result in a very unpleasant experience.