Tamir Sapir, a former cab driver turned billionaire, has pleaded guilty to illegally importing wildlife parts, after his yacht, the M/Y Mystere C.I. was found to be outfitted with 29 wildlife items, including endangered species.
Sapir immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in the early 1970s. He spent three years driving a taxicab in New York City before opening an electronics store catering primarily to Russian clientele on Fifth Avenue. He later established Joy Lud International Distributors, and made a fortune trading electronics for Russian oil and fertilizer contracts.
In the 1990s Sapir began investing in Manhattan real estate, becoming a billionaire by 2002, and making Forbes list of Richest Americans in 2008 and 2009.
Sapir set a record for the highest price ever paid for a New York City townhouse when he bought the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion on Fifth Avenue (in photo above) for $40 million after a single walk-through.
Sapir, a famed collector of European ivory, establish Ruzial Ltd. based in the Cayman Islands. The sole purpose of the corporation is to own the yacht.
The gruesome decor inside the $26 million yacht with Versace interiors included rugs made of zebra, jaguar, lion, leopard and tiger, bar stools and cigarette cases covered with reticulated python skin, elephant tusks, a mounted tiger head, and an entire stuffed lion.
Investigators displayed the collection of poached hides at a news conference on Wednesday.
“The illegal trade in endangered wildlife robs directly from our future and the futures of our children and grandchildren,” stated Anthony V. Mangione, special agent in charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations. “It robs them of the opportunity to see these creatures in their natural environment. People who engage in this type of activity are criminals.”
Sapir has been slapped with $150,000 in fines, which will be used to turn the animal hides into a diplay which will go up at airports and international ports throughout South Florida to serve as a reminder of what can happen to anyone who attempts to smuggle similar items into the United States.
View photos of the illegal contraband confiscated from the yacht below.