Leading South African conservationist John Hume has denied allegations of smuggling rhino horns worth $14 million.
Hume, 83, the former owner of the world’s largest rhino farm, Platinum Rhino, was charged alongside five others, including a lawyer and a game reserve manager, with 55 counts of theft, money laundering, and fraud.
They allegedly participated in an international rhino horn trafficking syndicate between 2017 and 2024, smuggling over 960 horns to Southeast Asia, where rhino horns are used in traditional medicine.
While selling rhino horns is legal within South Africa, exporting them is prohibited.
Hume proclaimed his innocence, stating, “I have nothing to hide and have fully cooperated with investigators for years. I categorically reject the allegations against me and maintain that I have never acted unlawfully.”
The accused appeared in a magistrate’s court in Pretoria, where they were granted bail without entering a plea.
Hume’s farm once housed approximately 2,000 southern white rhinos, which he bred for over two decades before selling the farm in 2023 due to unsustainable costs.
