The US litigator who headed the prosecution in the largest restitution case of its kind, focusing on former Cape Town fishing magnate Arnold Bengis, says the elaborate poaching scheme hurt the US “in multiple ways”.
Marcus Asner, who headed the Bengis prosecution when he was a prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office, said the scheme run by Bengis, 77, his son David, 43, and Jeffrey Noll, 62, had a negative impact on not only South Africa, but also on the US.
“We historically have been one of the largest consumers of South African rock lobster...”
“Defendants’ cheating hurt legitimate competitors in the US who were trying to play by the rules. In addition, defendants’ over-harvesting threatened the US supply of South African rock lobster, again hurting US consumers,” Asner, a partner at the law firm of Arnold & Porter in New York, said.
On Friday a US court ordered Bengis, his son and Noll to pay South Africa R294 million in restitution for exporting illegally large amounts of West Coast rock lobster to the US.
According to court papers, the trio ran the poaching scheme from 1987 to 2001.
The restitution order is the largest in the US in terms of the Lacey Act – a US statute governing the trafficking of fish, wildlife and plants.
“It’s an absolutely terrific result. The defendants engaged in a sprawling criminal scheme to illegally harvest massive quantities of South African rock lobster, and then sell the illegal bounty in the United States for a significant profit,” Asner said.
“The defendants’ brazen and systematic poaching had a devastating impact on South Africa’s rock lobster population.”
Asner said the restitution order was “hugely” significant.
“The immediate impact is that it provides South Africa some measure of compensation for the damage the defendants inflicted. More broadly, it sends a loud message to criminals that anyone who illegally takes the fish, wildlife or plants of another country and then tries to sell those items in the United States will have to pay back their victims for their crimes,” he said.
Asner said the investigation and case involved co-operation between South Africa and the US.
“This is a terrific result for South Africa, for the United States, and for every person interested in the fight against the illegal trafficking of fish, wildlife, plants or plant products.”
“I’m very proud to have worked on such an important case with such a great group of hard-working and dedicated agents, officials and lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said. - The Cape Times