WESTERN CAPE – The Bellville based Hawks’ Priority Crime Specialised Investigation (PCSI) team attained an outstanding success when a final forfeiture order for a vehicle asset worth R178 300 was granted on their favour by the court on 23 May 2023. The vehicle was used as an instrumentality.
This emanates from an incident where abalone was seized on 29 January 2020 and a 54-year old foreign national was subsequently arrested in Philadelphia by the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation team. Bill Ho was the main suspect in a group of suspects who were involved in abalone poaching. He has since been sentenced by the Khayelitsha Regional Court on 02 June 2021.
Prior to the finalisation of the matter on the 23 May 2023, the DPCI Economic Protected Resources team (EPR) referred the matter to the Western Cape PCSI office for asset forfeiture investigation. The Western Cape High Court granted a final forfeiture order to the team that worked closely with the NPA Asset Forfeiture Unit. The vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner, will be auctioned and the money obtained to be deposited into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA).