Lacey Act Violators Ordered to Pay $22.5 Million in Restitution to South African Government
The Southern New York U.S. District Court ordered three importers to pay nearly $22.5 million to the government of South Africa for Lacey Act violations stemming from the over-quota harvest of rock lobster. According to the Justice Department, the restitution order is the largest in a Lacey Act case in history. It had been the subject of a 2011 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found restitution could be ordered in Lacey Act cases. The three men also served prison terms and forfeited other money in connection with the convictions.
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From 1987 to 2001, Arnold Maurice Bengis, David Bengis, and Jeffrey Noll engaged in a scheme to harvest over-quota quantities of West Coast and South Coast rock lobster in South Africa, and then export it to the U.S, the Justice Department said. Arnold Bengis ran a South African fishing and fish-processing company called Hout Bay Fishing Industries. Jeffrey Noll and David Bengis (Arnold’s son) were presidents of two U.S. corporations that imported, processed, packed, and distributed the fish in the U.S., the district court said. According to the Justice Department, the defendants underreported the fish harvested to South African authorities, and bribed South African fisheries inspectors to avoid enforcement. The imports violated the Lacey Act because they broke a South African fisheries law. Under the Lacey Act, it is illegal to import into the U.S. any fish, wildlife, or plants taken in violation of state or foreign law.
Arnold Bengis and Jeffrey Noll pleaded guilty in April 2004 to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act and commit smuggling, as well as substantive violations of the Lacey Act. David Bengis only pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. They were sentenced to 49 months, 30 months, and one year, respectively. Arnold Bengis and Noll forfeited $5.9 million to the U.S. government, and David Bengis forfeited $1.5 million. All three have served out their prison sentences, the Justice Department said.
The U.S. prosecutors also sought restitution from the defendants to the government of South Africa. But in 2007, the Southern New York U.S. District Court ruled that South Africa wasn’t entitled to an award under the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (MVRA), because the rock lobster wasn’t South African government property. As a result, the South African government wasn’t the victim of harm, it said. In 2011, the 2nd Circuit disagreed. Because South Africa had a legal right to seize and sell the rock lobster if the scheme had been detected, it had a property interest in the rock lobster and was entitled to restitution under the MVRA for the Lacey Act violations. The appeals court sent the case back down to decide the amount.
On June 14, the district court ordered the defendants to pay the $29.5 million market value of the West Coast rock lobster to the government of South Africa. A magistrate had earlier recommended payment of an additional $32.4 million for the illegal harvesting of South Coast rock lobster. But the district court said that because the government couldn’t prove the South Coast lobster was imported, it didn’t violate U.S. law and wasn’t subject to restitution under the MVRA. The district court also lowered the restitution amount by the $7 million the defendants have already paid to South Africa.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the district court’s restitution order.