31 arrested in $3.5 million Calif. recycling fraud

LOS ANGELES - LOS ANGELES (AP) - Fraudsters did more than nickel-and-dime California taxpayers. They trucked millions of cans and bottles into the state from Nevada and Arizona so they could recycle the containers and collect state redemption money, authorities said Wednesday.

Thirty-one people in three separate fraud rings were arrested last month on suspicion of illegally collecting more than $3.5 million in redemption money, according to the state attorney general's office. They have been charged with conspiracy, grand theft and unlawful recycling.

It's like a scene from "Seinfeld," whose characters Kramer and Newman once tried driving a mail truck full of empty cans and bottles to Michigan to profit from the dime deposit law.

But, "Recycling fraud is a crime against California consumers and we take it very seriously," said a statement from Margo Reid Brown, director of the state's CalRecycle program.

California charges a California Redemption Value of 5 or 10 cents on each glass, aluminum or plastic beverage container. The fee is refunded when the can or bottle is brought in for recycling, with people getting $1.57 per pound when they bring back aluminum cans in bulk. Many people collect cans and bottles from the trash to earn cash.

However, authorities contend that fraud rings illegally brought in truckloads of containers from Nevada and Arizona, which don't have redemption programs. The loads were taken to recycling centers in Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial and San Diego counties, authorities said.

In one case, 1.6 million pounds of cans and bottles were imported from Nevada, authorities claim.

A Las Vegas man collected and stored them at his home and in several storage facilities, according to the attorney general's office.

Twice a week, the man and others used rented 16-foot and 24-foot trucks to haul 5,000-pound loads to a storage facility in Montclair, where the materials were parceled out to other ring members who took them to various recycling centers, authorities allege.

In another case, authorities said cans filled with sand to increase their recycling weight, were hauled from the Phoenix area to Moreno Valley.