The head of acquisitions and auctioneer of a Beverley Hills, California gallery and auction house has appeared in Manhattan federal court in New York to face charges of conspiring to smuggle rhinoceros horns, in violation of the Lacey Act.

According to allegations contained in the indictment from approximately 2009 and 2012, Jacob Chait and his co-conspirators purchased rhinoceros horns and taxidermy mounts in the US and sought to sell them to foreign buyers in private deals, including in at least eight separate deals or attempted deals involving 15 rhinoceros horns worth an estimated $2.4 million.

This included one alleged...