Beverly Hills Auctioneer Charged In Rhinoceros Horn Smuggling Conspiracy

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- A Beverly Hills auctioneer was indicted in New York City for allegedly conspiring to smuggle rhinoceros horns, prosecutors said.

Jacob Chait, 34, was charged with one count of conspiring to smuggle rhinoceros horns and violating the Lacey Act, a 1900 law that prohibits illegal wildlife trafficking.

Between 2009 to 2012, Chait and his associates purchased rhinoceros horns and taxidermy mounts in the U.S. and sought to sell them to foreign buyers in private deals, including in at least eight separate deals or attempted deals involving 15 rhinoceros horns worth an estimated $2.4 million, prosecutors said.

Chait also personally smuggled two endangered black rhino horns to China in his luggage, according to prosecutors.

"Rhinoceros have no known predators other than humans, and yet, driven by the illegal trade in their horns, literally worth more than their weight in gold in the black market, rhinoceros are on their way to extinction," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

Rhinoceros horn is worth more per pound than gold due to the high demand in Asia and increasing scarcity of supply, officials said.

Chait is the director of the natural history department and head of acquisitions at I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers. He appeared as himself on the 2012 short-lived Discovery Channel reality series, "Final Offer."

The indictment is part of an ongoing nationwide crackdown by the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice on illegal trafficking in rhinoceros horns and other wildlife crimes.

Chait faces years in prison if convicted.

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