footstepsfrom#27
07-20-2007, 05:02 AM
I'm curious...can anyone on this board come up with a legitimate reason for the Feds to prosecute this guy? Or is this a what it appears to be...a case of some over zealous bureacrat with an axe to grind wanting to make a name for himself by going after a high profile rich guy? This dude's not even being charged with a crime in Russia but the Feds think they need to waste tax payers money with a federal grand jury investigation into something this trivial that occured on the other side of the world? For shooting a moose and a sheep? If it wasn't on Reuters I'd think this was a joke. I'm not even sure how a US federal court could even have jurisdiction here. What's realy going on?
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1940092720070719
Texas billionaire questioned about Russian hunting
Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:28AM EDT
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal grand jury is investigating an allegation that Texas energy billionaire Dan Duncan violated Russian hunting laws during a 2002 trip, a spokesman for Duncan's lawyer said on Thursday.
Duncan, 74, founder of Enterprise Products Partners, a big pipeline company, appeared before the panel on Wednesday to answer questions about a helicopter hunting trip he and others took with Russian guides five years ago.
Duncan said he shot and killed a moose and a sheep from the helicopter, a practice he did not know was illegal in Russia, Duncan told the Houston Chronicle. Neither animal is considered an endangered species.
No complaints or charges were filed in Russia, Duncan's lawyer, Rusty Hardin said. The guide is now a top official with a Russian hunting license agency, the lawyer said.
Hardin expressed astonishment at the investigation in Texas by a U.S. prosecutor involving an event in Russia. The applicable law could by a 107-year-old law intended to stop international trafficking in rare plants and animals, he said.
"What the hell is the U.S. interest in bringing felony charges here for hunting on Russian soil, where not one single person has complained?" Hardin told the Chronicle. "Is this really the best use of our prosecutorial resources?"
Duncan, who has an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion and is widely seen as the wealthiest man in Houston, told the Chronicle he assumed the hunt was legal because local guides usually know and obey locally applicable laws.
"We admitted from the word 'go' that I shot them from the helicopter," Duncan told the Chronicle, adding that in the 1990s he took a similar trip and shot an animal from a helicopter.
"The whole question is: 'Did I know it was illegal? I did not,'" Duncan said.
U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1940092720070719
Texas billionaire questioned about Russian hunting
Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:28AM EDT
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal grand jury is investigating an allegation that Texas energy billionaire Dan Duncan violated Russian hunting laws during a 2002 trip, a spokesman for Duncan's lawyer said on Thursday.
Duncan, 74, founder of Enterprise Products Partners, a big pipeline company, appeared before the panel on Wednesday to answer questions about a helicopter hunting trip he and others took with Russian guides five years ago.
Duncan said he shot and killed a moose and a sheep from the helicopter, a practice he did not know was illegal in Russia, Duncan told the Houston Chronicle. Neither animal is considered an endangered species.
No complaints or charges were filed in Russia, Duncan's lawyer, Rusty Hardin said. The guide is now a top official with a Russian hunting license agency, the lawyer said.
Hardin expressed astonishment at the investigation in Texas by a U.S. prosecutor involving an event in Russia. The applicable law could by a 107-year-old law intended to stop international trafficking in rare plants and animals, he said.
"What the hell is the U.S. interest in bringing felony charges here for hunting on Russian soil, where not one single person has complained?" Hardin told the Chronicle. "Is this really the best use of our prosecutorial resources?"
Duncan, who has an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion and is widely seen as the wealthiest man in Houston, told the Chronicle he assumed the hunt was legal because local guides usually know and obey locally applicable laws.
"We admitted from the word 'go' that I shot them from the helicopter," Duncan told the Chronicle, adding that in the 1990s he took a similar trip and shot an animal from a helicopter.
"The whole question is: 'Did I know it was illegal? I did not,'" Duncan said.
U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment.