While many people have been indicted in this case, the such a scheme wouldn’t have been so lucrative if it weren’t for DG Auto of New Jersey allegedly stepping up to the plate. See, DG Auto is a specialist recycling business, one that exclusively focuses on catalytic converters and has the resources to de-can converters and separate out the platinum, palladium, and rhodium inside. It even has an app for selling loads of catalytic converters or using toll refining, where DG Auto refines catalytic converters but doesn’t become the owners of said catalytic converters. While businesses like this are excellent resources for automotive recycling facilities, they can spell big trouble if everything isn’t above-board. Indeed, prosecutors estimate that the value of materials in stolen catalytic converters allegedly processed through DG Auto clocks in at $545 million. Prosecutors claim that one defendant received $45 million in wire transfers for stolen catalytic converters, while another is said to have received $13 million. Given the sheer quantity of money this case involves, it’s not surprising to see charges laid across five states. The defendants who allegedly sold DG Auto stolen catalytic converters are said to have just paid thieves for the emissions control devices, meaning these middlemen allegedly weren’t even stealing the items in the first place. As to be expected, law enforcement agencies have slapped defendants with a litany of charges like conspiracy to commit money laundering, and have already seized millions of dollars in assets including homes, cash, and ironically, luxury cars. While the Department of Justice doesn’t mention what sort of luxury cars were seized, I wonder if any of them had their catalytic converters missing. Catalytic converter theft is a huge pain in the ass if you happen to be on the receiving end of it. Not only do thieves haphazardly slice out the emissions components, often nicking brake lines along the way, replacement is a proper nightmare. If you live in California, you’ll need expensive CARB-certified catalytic converters, while for those in other states, some platforms might not have suitable aftermarket catalytic converters available. Oh, and even if an aftermarket manufacturer makes catalytic converters for your car, don’t count on them being available due to the topsy-turvy supply chain. Some 28 years ago, Vincent Vega asked, “What’s more chickenshit than fucking with a man’s automobile?” Today, we might have an answer. It’s significantly more chickenshit to play middleman, a fairly cushy position with all the money of the stolen catalytic converter market and much less risk compared to crawling under vehicles with a Sawzall. Still, the bust of what was allegedly a major theft ring could be good news for car owners as thieves will scramble to find new buyers for stolen cats. With many recycling facilities requiring proof of ownership, it should only get harder to find dodgy recyclers. Lead photo credit: sidewalk flying, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Ever since, I’m just cruising around the ramp singing the song of my people. Between that and the drug use, I noped out of that relationship and moved on with my life. I know several college students who had thousands of dollars worth of stuff stolen (like ~10k). They would have been significantly affected financially had their insurance not covered it. Pretty messed up to possibly affect years of someone’s life for a few hundred bucks profit. I also took 20 seconds to check the DG Auto website for the full company name and then looked that up on the NJ Business registration page. Their full corporate name appears to be DG AUTO PARTS LLC 0450461235 Freehold LLC 02/2020. I think that is the date the company was created. For ten cents you can pull their company incorperation documents but that seemed like a waste of time. From the Justice Department’s press release “In all these incidents, most of the catalytic converters sold to DG Auto were stolen, and DG Auto knew or should have known that when they paid for them”. “Defendants Navin Khanna, aka Lovin Khanna, 39; Tinu Khanna, aka Gagan Khanna, 35; Daniel Dolan, 44; Chi Mo, aka David Mo, 37; Wright Louis Mosley, 50; and Ishu Lakra, 24, all of New Jersey, operated DG Auto in multiple locations in New Jersey. They knowingly purchased stolen catalytic converters and, through a “de-canning” process, extracted the precious metal powders from the catalytic core. DG Auto sold the precious metal powders it processed from California and elsewhere to a metal refinery for over $545 million”. I’ll have to accept that I’m wrong… Catalytic converters stolen from 4(!) San Francisco PD marked vehicles.
