A so-called “abalone tycoon” narrowly escaped losing his freedom two years ago, but failed to save his car, which was used during the crime.
Bill Ho (also known as Wong), a Chinese national, recently lost his Toyota in a forfeiture order by the Hawks in Bellville, spokesperson Zinzi Hani says.
The car, worth R178 300, will be auctioned and the money obtained to be deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (Cara).
According to Hani the vehicle was used during an incident on 20 January 2020 when Ho was arrested with abalone by the Hawks in Phildadelphia, close to Durbanville.
He has since been sentenced by the Khayelitsha Regional Court on 2 June 2021, where he received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to multiple charges.
He was ordered to pay R32 980 into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account (Cara) and the ablone, as well as equipment seized during his arrest were all forfeited to the state.
Ho was the main suspect in a group of suspects who were involved in abalone poaching. His co-accused in the case, Solomon Sauls, the kingpin of the group in the Western Cape, pleaded guilty and was already serving a sentence of six years imprisonment. He was also sentenced in another case which involved allegations that government officials were bribed to give back confiscated stock.
In an unrelated case, another accused, Jian Liang Wu, was arrested in Bellville two weeks ago after being found with abalone worth around R2,8 million.
