King, a 1-month-old eastern black rhinoceros, runs in its habitat at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago on September, 26, 2013. The eastern black rhinoceros is an endangered species. A Beverly Hills, Calif., auctioneer was charged with conspiring to smuggle 15 horns from endangered rhinoceros abroad. File photo by Brian Kersey./UPI |
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Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A California auctioneer was indicted in New York on federal charges of conspiring to smuggle endangered rhinoceros horns.
Jacob Chait, the head of acquisitions and auctioneer of a Beverley Hills, Calif., gallery and auction house, and his co-conspirators allegedly purchased rhinoceros horns and taxidermy mounts in the United States and attempted to sell them to foreign buyers, according to the Justice Department. Eight separate or attempted deals involved 15 rhinoceros horns that were worth an estimated $2.4 million.
In one alleged incident, Chait, 34, personally smuggled two endangered black rhino horns to China in his luggage.
A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned a one-count indictment on Feb. 15 against Chait.
"Illegal trafficking like that allegedly conducted by these defendants is fueling the unprecedented slaughter of wild rhinos," said Jim Kurth, acting director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "In Africa, a rhino is currently poached every eight hours -- a rate that threatens to make the rhino extinct in the wild in less than 15 years. Our special agents will continue to work with the Justice Department to aggressively investigate and secure the prosecutions of individuals and criminal organizations engaged in rhino horn trafficking to protect wild populations of this imperiled species."
Rhinoceros horns are worth more per pound than gold because of their scarcity and high demand in Asia.
Chait actions violate the Lacey Act, a 1900 U.S. law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife, and carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Chait is scheduled to appear Monday before U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman.
This indictment was the sixth case brought in the Southern District of New York as part of Operation Crash, a nationwide crackdown by the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice on illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns and other wildlife crimes. A "crash" is a herd of rhinoceros.
The defendant is the younger brother of Joey Chait. On June 22, 2016, Chait, the senior auction administrator at I.M. Chait Gallery, was sentenced one year and one day for conspiring to smuggle wildlife products made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral with a market value of at least $1 million.
"Illegal wildlife trafficking is a serious crime under federal law and should be vigorously prosecuted," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
