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Dawie Groenewald photographed during an earlier court appearance. 

Two Groenewald brothers receive bail

 

The game farmer Dawie Groenewald and his younger brother Janneman have been indicted in the USA on charges relating to illegal rhino hunting.

According to police information, both have been released on bail on Friday, 23 June. Dawie was granted bail of R50 000 and his brother R10 000. 

News24 reported that on Thursday, 22 June, both brothers were arrested by an Interpol task team in Polokwane. According to reports, Janneman was allegedly arrested at his Polokwane home, while Dawie handed himself to the authorities.

A spokesperson for the Hawks, Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi, confirmed the arrest of both brothers in order to facilitate the US government’s request for the brothers’ extradition to face charges there. "Interpol executed an international warrant of arrest issued from the USA where Mr Groenewald and his brother are wanted for various charges by the US Department of Justice. They were assisted by the Limpopo Endangered Species Unit and the Tactical Response Unit," said Mulaudzi.

The US indictment issued in 2014 charges Dawie and Janneman, and their company Valinor Trading CC (d/b/a Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris), with conspiracy, Lacey Act violations, mail fraud, money laundering and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting requirements.  
The Lacey Act is the USA's oldest criminal statute addressing illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking, making it a crime to sell animal hunts conducted in violation of state, federal, tribal and foreign law.

Nine American hunters paid up to $15 000 (R650 000) per animal for a total of 11 hunts sold at hunting conventions and gun shows in the United States between 2005 and 2010.

The hunters were tricked by the Groenewalds into believing they were “legally” shooting rhino. The Groenewalds obtained no hunting permits from the South African or local government and the hunters never received their trophies", the indictment said.

Dawie was arrested in 2010 after a highly publicised police investigation implicated him, his wife Sariette and nine others as the accused in an alleged rhino poaching syndicate. The group faces a total of 1 872 charges, but have managed to stave off prosecution since their arrest. This is partly because their legal team hopes that the recent lift of the moratorium on the selling of rhino horns will force the State to withdraw the charges.

Groenewald and his co-accused appeared in the Pretoria High Court last week where the case was yet again postponed until January next year.

Read next week’s Zoutpansberger for a full report.

 

Date:23 June 2017

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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