Dirty Money and Wildlife Trafficking: Using the Money Laundering Control Act to Prosecute Illegal Wildlife Trade

• Date: 01 April 2019

49 ELR 10334 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 4-2019

Boonchai Bach is a very rich man.1 He and his

brother operate businesses in agricultura l and forest

products, construction materials, electrical equip-

ment, and hotels and food services.2 But these operations

allegedly serve a s fronts for laundering the prots generated

from one of the largest and most notorious international

illega l wildlife supply chains.3 K nown as a kingpin4 in ille-

gal wildlife trade, Mr. Bach, a Vietnamese national with

ai citizenship, is part of a crime family identied as “the

centre of Asia’s animal tracking network,”5 which sup-

plies rhino horn, tiger parts, and other poached wildlife

products captured in Asia and A frica to buyers in China,

Laos, and Vietnam.6 His alleged list of customers includes

the Xay savang Ne twork,7 a notorious international crimi-

nal syndicate engaged in a range of high-prot, illegal

activities. Currently, the U.S. government is oering a $1

million reward for information leading to the Xaysavang

Network ’s demise.8

1. David Feige, Wildlife Trackers Eye Money Laundering, F M., Mar.

2018, http://www.fraud-magazine.com/article.aspx?id=4295001665.

2. Id.

3. Oliver Holmes, ai Police Arrest Notorious Wildlife Tracking Suspect,

G, Jan. 20, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/

2018/jan/20/thai-police-arrest-notorious-wildlife-tracking-suspect.

4. Alleged Wildlife Smuggling Kingpin Jailed in ailand, A P,

May 11, 2018, https://www.apnews.com/8fd49c22ddb34600bd540d139

e0ea466; Amy Held, Animal Tracking “Kingpin” Arrested in ai-

land, N’ P. R, Jan. 20, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/

thetwo-way/2018/01/20/579340736/animal-tracking-kingpin-arrested

-in-thailandNPR.

5. Nick Davies & Oliver Holmes, e Crime Family at the Centre of Asia’s

Animal Tracking Network, G, Sept. 26, 2016, https://www.the-

guardian.com/environment/2016/sep/26/bach-brothers-elephant-ivory-

asias-animal-tracking-network.

6. Id.

7. “Untouchable” Wildlife Kingpin Arrested—ai Police Nab Notorious Traf-

cker Hunted for Over a Decade, F, Jan. 20, 2018 [hereinafter “Un-

touchable” Wildlife Kingpin Arrested], https://www.freeland.org/newsroom/

untouchable-wildlife-kingpin-arrested-thai-police-nab-notorious-tracker-

hunted-for-over-a-dec.

8. B  I N  L E A,

U.S. D  S, T O C R

P: X N, https://www.state.gov/documents/orga-

nization/224458.pdf.

Although Mr. Bach’s questionable activities are well

known to authorities, he has been labeled as “untouchable.”9

Consequently, the international c onserv ation commu nity

rejoiced when he was arrested by ai police in Janu-

ary 2018 after legal authorities uncovered a connection

between Bach and 11 kilograms of rhino horn, valued at

$700,000, discovered by the Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok)

Airport Police in the bag of a Chinese courier. e celebra-

tions subsided when Mr. Bach received a sentence of only

2.5 years in prison, and his case was later dismissed when a

key witness changed his testimony.10

e illegal wild life trade is often described as a crime w ith

high prot and low risk.11 Studies show that the majority of

criminal prosecutions involve charges limited to violations

of wildlife statutes that primarily have low nes, minimal

jail time, and forfeiture provisions restricted to the il legal

wildlife products. In the ca se of Mr. Bach, his sentence was

based on “wildlife related crimes,” as cha racterized by ai

ocials, specic to the 11 kilograms of rhino horn seized.12

9. See “Untouchable” Wildlife Kingpin Arrested, supra note 7.

10. Jim Pollard, Key Wildlife Smuggler Gets 2.5 Years in Jail After Rhino Haul

Found, A T, May 11, 2018, http://www.atimes.com/article/key-wild-

life-smuggler-gets-2-5-years-in-jail-after-rhino-haul-found/; Rachel Nuwer,

How the Case Against an Alleged Poaching Kingpin Fell Apart, N’ G-

, Feb. 19, 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/

thai-court-dismisses-case-against-suspected-poaching-kingpin/.

11. Andy Coghlan, UN Puts Wildlife Crime on a Par With Drug and People

Tracking, N S, Aug. 3, 2015 (quoting Sabri Zain, director

at TRAFFIC: “For years now, wildlife crime has been viewed by criminal

syndicates as a high-prot, low-risk activity, not least because penalties for

those caught have been minuscule.”), https://www.newscientist.com/ar-

ticle/dn27995-un-puts-wildlife-crime-on-a-par-with-drug-and-people-traf-

cking/; U N O  D  C  A/P

G  M L, E  D, I-

,  D  I F F F W

C 25 (2017) (citing the results of a survey of 45 jurisdictions, the re-

port nds that 67% of survey participants had maximum penalties for wild-

life crimes of four years or more or one-third of jurisdictions did not have

lengthy prison sentences as potential penalties for wildlife crimes).

12. Wildlife Tracking Kingpin Jailed: Boonchai Bach Convicted by ai Court,

F, May 10, 2018 (“Bach is charged under the ai Customs Act

(Sec. 244 and Sec. 244—Phase 1), Wild Animal Reservation and Protec-

tion Act, B.E. 2535 (Sec. 23—Phase 1, Sec. 24—Phase 1 and Sec. 47), and

Animal Epidemics Act B.E. 2558 (Sec. 31—Phase 1 and Sec. 68.”); Pollard,

supra note 10.

Dirty Money and Wildlife Traff‌icking:

Using the Money Laundering Control

Act to Prosecute Illegal Wildlife Trade

by Vanessa Dick

Vanessa Dick recently graduated with an LL.M. in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law

from Lewis and Clark Law School. She previously worked in Washington, D.C., on environmental

policy, including as Deputy Director of Government Relations at World Wildlife Fund US.

Copyright © 2019 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.