- A Western Cape man accused of operating a clandestine abalone facility has been found guilty and sentenced.
- The accused was arrested in February.
- He received suspended sentences and two years of correctional supervision.
The Khayelitsha Regional Court has sentenced a 52-year-old man after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the operation of a clandestine abalone facility.
Bill Ho was sentenced on Wednesday.
He was arrested in February 2020 during a search and seizure operation that exposed a syndicate involved in the poaching, buying and selling of illicit abalone in Gauteng and Western Cape.
"He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment for two counts of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act. Additionally, a five-year sentence was also handed to him for contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and both five-year sentences were wholly suspended for five years with stringent conditions," said Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani.
Ho was also sentenced to two-years' correctional supervision and was ordered to pay R32 980 into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account.
"All the abalone and equipment that was seized during a search and seizure be forfeited to the State. Three of his vehicles that had been seized were also signed off and now awaits the pending forfeiture order from the High Court," Hani said.
Meanwhile, the syndicate kingpin, Solomon Sauls, pleaded guilty on 9 February 2021 and is already serving a sentence of six years in jail.
In a separate case, Solomon was sentenced to 244 years. The case involved allegations of poaching and claims that officials at the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) were bribed to give back confiscated stock.