US: Four accused of stealing dinosaur bones worth $1 million and selling them to China
Representational image of restored dinosaur bones
In a bizarrecase, four people in the United States have been accused of buying and reselling "paleontological resources" valued at over $1 million. Among these resources are dinosaur bones that were illicitly exported to China.
This not only constitutes a breach of federal law but also runs afoul of the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. These alleged misdeeds spanned a period of five years, commencing in March 2018 and culminating in March 2023, reported NBC news.
Who have been accused?
Utah residents Vint Wade and Donna Wade, aged 65 and 67, and Steven Willing (67) along with his son, Jordan Willing (40), hailing from Los Angeles and Oregon are the accused in the case.
All four individuals are confronting a barrage of charges stemming from their alleged involvement in the illegal trade of paleontological resources, in direct violation of the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act.
The Act classifies paleontological resources as fossilised remains, traces, or imprints of organisms that are preserved in or on the Earth's crust, holding significant paleontological interest.
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Theystand accused of acquiring, relocating, and exporting dinosaur bones from federal lands, resulting in a total value exceeding $1 million.
This unlawful operation included the extraction of paleontological materials, primarily dinosaur bones, from federal and state lands located in southeastern Utah.
Prosecutors contend that the Wades accumulated these paleontological materials with the intent to sell them to national merchants and to showcase them at gem and mineral exhibitions.
Furthermore, it is alleged that they sold paleontological materials to Jordan and Steven Willing. The Willings, acting through their business entity, JMW Sales Inc., are accused of deliberately mislabelling the dinosaur bones to reduce their perceived value before exporting them to China.
"By removing and processing these dinosaur bones to make consumer products for profit, tens of thousands of pounds of dinosaur bones have lost virtually all scientific value, leaving future generations unable to experience the science and wonder of these bones on Federal land," US Attorney Trina A. Higgins stated.
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