An ugly scandal involving a lovely flower descends on orchid lovers and admiration seekers.
By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published November 27, 2003
One of the most dazzling orchid discoveries in a century has led to a federal smuggling indictment of the Virginia nursery owner who first brought the flower into Florida.
After a yearlong investigation, a Tampa grand jury indicted Michael Kovach on charges of smuggling and illegally possessing a rare Peruvian orchid that is now named for him: Phragmipedium kovachii.
Kovach has not been taken into custody. His mentor, Miami orchid expert Lee Moore, said Kovach was unaware he had been indicted. Kovach did not return calls for comment.
The smuggling charge is a felony; the possession charge is a misdemeanor. If convicted of the felony, Kovach could face up to five years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. The misdemeanor charge could result in a year behind bars and a $100,000 fine.
"It's a pretty big deal," said Justice Department spokesman Blain Rethmeier.
The indictment against Kovach marks the first criminal charges in the investigation, launched soon after Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota trumpeted Kovach's find in June 2002.
Federal investigators have searched Selby Gardens, questioned its employees and confiscated a piece of the orchid that one employee had taken home to Vermont to try to grow.
"What we weren't aware of was how we could get caught up in this web," said John Atwood, the now-former Selby employee who took the piece to Vermont. "It was a shock. I don't know how much further this is going to go."
The investigation exacerbated tension among Selby's board members. Its popular executive director, Meg Lowman, was forced out, and several board members and employees quit.
A Selby spokeswoman said board members were unaware of the indictment, handed up quietly last week.
Kovach, 48, of Goldvein, Va., is a former carpenter who learned the intricacies of the trade by pestering experts like Moore, a swashbuckling figure after whom several South American orchids are named.
Moore rendezvoused with Kovach in Peru in May 2002 and told him where to look for new species. He said Kovach wanted an orchid named after him.
According to an account Kovach wrote for an orchid collector newsletter, Kovach spotted the new species at a roadside stand at a crossroads called El Progresso, near Myombomba in northern Peru.
Moore called it "the Holy Grail of orchids." He said he advised Kovach to take the discovery to Selby without the special permits required to ship rare and endangered flowers across international borders.
Kovach flew to Miami with the orchid in his luggage and drove to Sarasota on June 5, 2002. There, according to the indictment, Selby employees "accepted one or more" specimens from Kovach and agreed to name it for him. They waived the $12 identification fee.
Two days later, Kovach faxed to Selby "such documents as he had relating to the importation of the specimens," according to the indictment.
Although the indictment says his documents did not include the required permits for endangered plants, Atwood said, "we were satisfied his paperwork was in order."
Selby employees rushed into print a scientific description of the plant, reaping worldwide publicity in orchid circles. The staff also beat a rival, former Selby employee Eric Christenson, who was on the verge of publishing his own description of the flower.
Selby shipped part of Kovach's plant to Peru without following permitting requirements, federal documents show. Atwood took what was left back to Vermont to get it to grow. He succeeded in getting it to take root when the scandal hit.
"I was going to become a big hero," Atwood said.
- Times staff writer Graham Brink and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
