A second accused in a major perlemoen case in the Cape is now wanted by Interpol after he went to China and did not return.
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A second accused in a major perlemoen case in the province is now wanted by Interpol after he was allowed to travel to China for a celebration and did not return, says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Yu-Chen Chao, one of 19 accused in the case which involves more than 100 charges and which has been running in the Western Cape High Court for about six years, last appeared in the dock there at the beginning of February, but is believed to have since skipped the country.
Another of his co-accused in the case, Yen-Chang Ku, is listed on the Interpol website as wanted by South African authorities.
Years ago, Ku was released on R40 000 bail, and it was believed he left the country in December 2008.
NPA spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said Chao, at his last court appearance in the high court, had said he wanted to attend a celebration in China.
It is believed the celebration was the Chinese New Year on February 10.
Ntabazalila said Chao had been warned to provide the investigating officer in the case with an alternative address for when he was in China, and Chao had agreed to this.
But Ntabazalila said Chao had not returned, had forfeited his R100 000 bail and there was an Interpol arrest warrant for him.
Chao and Ku are among the 19 accused facing charges related to perlemoen smuggling including racketeering, fraud and collecting, keeping, controlling or possessing perlemoen for commercial purposes.
The syndicate had allegedly operated in a number of areas, including a farm in Koelenhof outside Stellenbosch.
Members had allegedly illegally exported perlemoen, hidden under frozen fish, in containers bound for the Far East under the names of Rapitrade 109, or Syroun Exports.
In another perlemoen case in the Western Cape High Court, one of the biggest perlemoen cases in the court, involving about 26 accused who face a collective 590 charges, the alleged kingpin, Ran Wei, a Chinese citizen, was yet to be arrested.
About seven years ago, Wei had been arrested on perlemoen charges in Rustenburg and had later been granted R1-million bail in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court.
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Cape Times