Government’s Case Against LABS

These are extracts from two government documents in the LABS case file at the federal courthouse in Chicago, Illinois. For a larger selection of these documents filed in this case, contact IPPL
August 2004

Extract from "Government’s Response To Renewed Motion Of Defendants To Dismiss Count 5 Of The Indictment, filed 6 May 2003

In 1994, Indonesia banned the export of a species of wild-caught monkeys known as crab-eating macaques (‘Decree No. 26/Kpts-11/94’). The phrase ‘wild-caught’ refers to those primates which were caught in the jungles of Indonesia. ‘Captive-bred’ primates, in contrast, are those primates which were born in captivity. In 1997, defendant LABS of Virginia, Inc. caused four shipments of these monkeys to be sent from Indonesia into the United States as a part of LABS’s purchase of an entire colony of crab-eating macaques. Each of the shipments at issue were accompanied by a ‘CITES’ permit issued by the Indonesian government. The CITES permits represented that each shipment contained ‘captive-bred’ primates when, in fact, the shipments contained a mix of ‘captive-bred’ and ‘wild-caught’ primates"...

Patrick Mehlman, a former employee, informed the defendants in a memorandum that the person from whom the defendants were purchasing the primate colony ‘ha[d] gone to the Indonesian government and cut a baksheesh deal to pay them off so that he can export feral caught animals.’ "The defendants wanted to purchase a breeding colony for use at its own United States-based facility. From the outset, the defendants knew that there were significant problems associated with the export of the Inquatex colony for this purpose. The defendants knew, from its own research and the various documents exchanged between parties that the Inquatex colony contained wild-caught monkeys and they also knew, because Mehlman, among others, told them, that Indonesian law prohibited the export of wild-caught monkeys unless some exception were written.

The defendants placed the burden on Darmawan to secure the requisite Indonesian-based documents, including the CITES permits, in order to allow the shipments to take place. The CITES permits and other documents that Darmawan sent to the defendants in advance of each shipment clearly reflected that the shipments contained captive-bred monkeys with no reference to the fact, as defendants well knew, that the shipments contained wild-caught monkeys as well. The defendants also knew that the document which Darmawan presented from the Department of Forestry, the so-called ‘exception’ to the Indonesian ban on the export of wild-caught monkeys, clearly referred to the export of unproductive wild-caught monkeys. The defendants knew that the wild-caught monkeys in the shipment were, in fact, productive and that the productive nature of the Inquatex colony was the reason for purchasing it in the first place...

The disconnect or dis-juncture between what the defendants knew to be the demographics of the colony and what the CITES permits and health certificates reflected is what makes the issue of baksheesh relevant to this case. The defendants were told repeatedly that Darmawan relied heavily on baksheesh to influence Indonesian officials...

On or about February 17, 1997, Dr. George Ward, LABS’s veterinarian who was in Indonesia at the time, wrote a letter to Taub in which he stated as follows: "that [Darmawan’s ability to sell 1,000 primates per year] doesn’t appear to be a problem given his connections with the local F[ish] & W[ildlife]. It is very impressive to me- I needed 6 months to complete all steps (9) in exporting a monkey from Bangkok and Agus [Darmawan] can accomplish (albeit in only 6 steps here) it in 1 ½ weeks. Of course the ‘charity’ is a very important aspect.

Extract from Government’s Consolidated Response To Defendants’ Bills Of Particulars, undated

On or about July 11, 1996, after Mehlman had returned to the United States, Mehlman distributed a memo to the LABS "Board of Directors" (of which defendants Taub, Stern and Henley were members at the time). Mehlman stated in the memo, among other things, that since exporting wild-caught primates was clearly against Indonesian law unless some exception were written, Agus Darmawan, Inquatex’s owner, had gone to the Indonesian government and had cut a ‘baksheesh’ deal to pay them off...

"Also, he got CITES for blood export really quickly. He dines at a big expensive restaurant under the offices of Indonesian Fish and Wildlife (and joked about taking them there), and he has been trafficking in birds and fish for a couple of decades. We went to the bird market together, and it was obvious that Agus had status. He’s been around."

"LABS, then, by paying monthly maintenance expenses, indirectly but knowingly funded Darmawan’s practice of making baksheesh payments as a part of his business operations...

"In November 1998, during an interview with Special Agent David Kirkby, Darmawan agreed with the statement that he (Darmawan) paid baksheesh to Indonesian Wildlife Management Authority officials for the purpose of exporting the illegal monkeys to LABS and that the officials made the shipments look legal...

Darmawan testified in the grand jury that he (Darmawan) gave individuals in the CITES permit office a $50.00 tip [and] that the tip was given to the clerks and that the clerks were to split up the tip among the various employees. Darmawan also testified that after the first CITES application was granted, he gave a particularly large tip, approximately $250, to the Indonesian Management Authority because he was happy his application had been granted.

The purpose of the baksheesh payments was to secure from the Indonesian government: (a) approval of the CITES applications; and (b) the issuance of the CITES permits and health certificates reflecting that the shipments contained captive-bred monkeys without reference to the fact that the shipments contained productive wild-caught monkeys as well".