An order allowing the state to seize assets worth at least R16,1-million from members of an alleged perlemoen smuggling syndicate operating from Gansbaai has been granted by the Cape High Court.
The assets include two houses, a farm and an entertainment business, all at Gansbaai; 15 vehicles that include two Mercedes-Benzes, a BMW, a Nissan racing car and a Toyota Land Cruiser; a bank account containing more than R430 000; and two boats.
The assets, seized in terms of the court order granted to the national director of public prosecutions late on Monday evening, belong to seven alleged members of the so-called "Marx syndicate" arrested during a dawn raid by the Scorpions in late November.
The assets forfeiture unit is looking for other assets that it believes have been hidden since the arrests.
Alleged syndicate head Elizabeth Marx is currently on bail of R50 000 and facing charges under the Marine Living Resources Act, and of racketeering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
She is one of 36 facing charges in connection with the activities of the alleged syndicate.
The assets forfeiture unit's court order, which has a return date of March 17, was granted just hours before Environmental Affairs Minister Valli Moosa told a parliamentary briefing the government was going to get "very tough and very dangerous" with perlemoen poaching syndicates.
The defendants in the High Court action and also the accused in the Bellville regional court are Marx, her husband Frederick Marx, Ronel Ferreira, Ricardo Theart, Janelle Theart, Paul de Villiers and Lambert Fourie.
There are also seven respondents indirectly involved in the High Court case: businesses and individuals involved in the assets in some way such as for example, the man who was still the registered owner of the house sold for cash to Marx and her husband.
The order was served on the defendants on Tuesday when they appeared in the Bellville regional court.
According to an affidavit by Scorpions senior special investigator Blaine Lazarus, filed as part of the application for the court order, Elizabeth Marx is head of the syndicate.
"She was a local abalone (perlemoen) buyer and co-ordinated all related activities.
"However, as our investigation progressed, it appears she began expanding her role to also supply national buyers."
Frederick Marx was responsible for handling money, purchasing vehicles, and arranging routes for local and long-distance transportation of the perlemoen, said Lazarus.
Marx's brother and sister, Ricardo and Janelle Theart, were responsible for collecting and transporting perlemoen, and for receiving and making payments for shipments.
Ferreira was also responsible for collecting and transporting perlemoen and for making payments for perlemoen shipments, and would occasionally store perlemoen at her premises, Lazarus said.
De Villiers was the head of a diving team who supplied Marx with illegally taken perlemoen, and Fourie one of his divers.
Fourie also bought a farm at Gansbaai for R1-million - paying R600 000 in cash and being allowed to pay the balance over four years - where perlemoen were stored.
In his affidavit, Lazarus said investigations into the syndicate started last February.
As part of the investigation, surveillance instruments were installed in a building in Kraaifontein that had been identified as a transit storage place.
Lazarus said that, based on documentation found, Marx had derived a benefit from perlemoen sales of some R10,7-million for a period from August 13, 2001 to September 23, 2002.