Pretoria - The Tembisa Regional Court has convicted and sentenced 49-year-old Ping Wu to five years direct imprisonment for money laundering. Spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, said in April 2019, the Hawks serious organised crime investigation team based in Middelburg registered an undercover investigation into allegations of illegal trade in rhino horn. "The scope of the project was to address a syndicate in Gauteng who were illegally dealing in rhino horns," said Sekgotodi. "On 23 July 2019, a search and seizure operation was conducted at Emperors Palace, in Kempton Park. Ping Wu facilitated various money laundering transactions. These included carrying large sums of banknotes into the casino after a rhino horn deal was done."