In demand: The mistaken belief that rhino horn is an aphrodisiac has led to a poaching crisis in Asia and Africa

An Irishman is suing one of the world’s biggest news organisations for libel, for around €18m.

Limerick traveller Richard Kerry O’Brien claims the Bloomberg news organisation “falsely portrayed” him as being the “king” of a criminal network of rhinoceros-horn traffickers in an article published last year.

The antiques dealer filed a complaint on Monday in New York County Supreme Court against Bloomberg, its reporter Adam Higginbotham, and senior executive editor Josh Tyrangiel.

The story, published on January 2, 2014, was called “The Irish Clan Behind Europe’s Rhino-horn Theft Epidemic”.

O’Brien claims the article linked him with “the Rathkeale Rovers”, a notorious Irish gang accused of stealing rhino horns and other valuable artefacts from museums.

The gang is believed to be the prime suspect behind the robbery of the rhino horn from Michael Flatley's 18th Century Castlehyde mansion.

They are also believed to be responsible for the theft of rhino horns, valued at more than €500,000, from the National History museum warehouse in Dublin last April.

Rhino horns can be worth anything up to €200,000 on the Asian black market and are mainly sold in China where they are used for traditional medicines, as an aphrodisiac and for decorating luxury products.

Rhino horn powder is literally worth more than its weight in gold, fetching as much as €60,000 per kilo on the black market.

In court papers, O’Brien denied being involved with the Rathkeale Rovers.

O’Brien is suing Bloomberg and reporter Adam Higginbotham for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

He claims the publication and Higginbotham “were committed to the preconceived notion that plaintiff is a criminal mastermind sans any concrete evidence”.

He also claims his reputation has suffered because he “was convicted in the public mind without ever being given the opportunity to have his voice heard.”

O’Brien’s claim also says that the Irish Traveller Community “has historically been subject to pervasive discrimination in Irish society”.

“My claim in the US confirms that I fear being assaulted by certain Travellers who like to claim the title ‘King of the Travellers’ and who compete for that title using violence, bare-knuckle fighting as it is called,” O’Brien told The Irish Daily Star.

“I don’t use or claim any such title.”

Bloomberg has told the New York Post that it stands by its reporting.

Online Editors