It was a whirlwind romance. Vonnie Cary was swept off her feet by the cowboy stranger she knew from church, with his good looks and exotic talk of African safaris. By the time she crashed down to earth he had vanished, with much of her money."I was straight out of a divorce. I was needy," the California farmer said this week, recalling her ordeal at the hands of her mystery South African, Abraham "Arno" Smit."He must have been with four or five women at the same time. If he found out that a woman didn't have the money she claimed she had, then he would disappear."He sucked me into his web. I didn't know there were people like that out there."Cary was easy prey for Smit, who in a few years allegedly cut a swathe of deceit and bad debt across California cattle country.He claimed to be a middle-aged cattle baron from South Africa, heir to a farming empire.In fact, he was a 25-year-old dealer in broken promises. When investigators finally tracked down his "family farm" in Ficksburg, in the Free State, they found four or five mangy cows, a grubby house and tight-lipped parents who would not say where Smit was.It was just one scene in a cat-and-mouse chase right around the world worthy of a Hollywood script, with Smit dodging US investigators, sometimes by mere minutes.However, it was an investigation by the Hawks that unearthed an even bigger surprise: Smit was allegedly part of one of South Africa's most notorious rhino- poaching syndicates, led by wildlife "tycoon" Hugo Ras, his brother-in-law.Ras, Smit and several others were finally arrested and charged in 2014, in a case that rocked the conservation world. They stand accused of the slaughter and mutilation of numerous rhinos in state and private nature reserves over several years, a crime allegedly committed with the aid of a potent drug called M99.Smit and Ras are still in jail as the case drags on, carefully watched by US investigators who want Smit extradited.First in line at the airport if Smit makes the return journey will be private investigator Rocky Pipkin, who says the South African gave him the proverbial run for his money - and other people's, too."He left quite a scorched earth here in California," Pipkin told the Sunday Times this week. "He told everybody the story that he had a huge dairy in South Africa with several thousand cows."Using a mixture of guile, charm and genuine business acumen, Smit entrenched himself in the California cattle trade, where he dealt in bull semen.He was himself extremely busy in the California social scene, particularly the dairy-rich Central Valley area, where he made quite an impression."He met our client online, an English lady, on a website called MillionaireMatch.com," said Pipkin. "They would meet in a hotel, but he would always be rushing off to some 'multimillion-dollar deal'. Before it came to check-out time he would leave her handling the bill."Pipkin's investigation soon revealed a long list of creditors: "He was such a good conman and a good salesman. When people heard we were investigating him they started contacting us, saying 'He got us for $35000', or 'He got me for $100000'." When people heard we were investigating him they started contacting us, saying 'He got us for $35000', or 'He got me for $100000' Smit did not have things all his own way. At one point he was "roughed up" by a group of out-of-pocket dairymen, Pipkin said, and he eventually had to flee, allegedly in a private jet owned by Ras. At one point agents were waiting for him at his car after he boarded a boat with a "lady friend". He never returned.Investigators picked up the scent in South Africa after a photograph emerged of Smit at an Ellis Park rugby match. The trail led to his parents in Ficksburg."We tried to put some pressure on his parents to tell us how to contact him," said investigator Andy Grudko, South Africa's ambassador at the World Association of Detectives. "At the time we were convinced the parents were covering for him."He next reappeared with this rhino poaching story. He was arrested with a whole group of other guys and incarcerated at Pretoria Central [prison]."National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Luvuyo Mfaka said the rhino-poaching case was awaiting a trial date. "We are in constant contact with the US embassy about the matter, specifically concerning Arno Smit, who is in custody," Mfaka said.Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said Smit had been denied bail on several occasions. "We are well aware of his international warrant of arrest and have dealt with it in the bail application, and engaged with Interpol and the US authorities," he said.Pipkin said that after the rhino case was concluded he intended to expose Smit "so that he can't do this to anybody again"."When he gets done we will extradite him back here and he will have to face the music with all the people he has ripped off," Pipkin said.Cary, however, who says Smit owes her about $80 000, believes a South African jail cell sounds like the perfect place for her ex."We can laugh about it now. It really would make a good movie," she said.jordanb@sundaytimes.co.za..