The California CRV fraud case I sited, was not small time scrappers. This case involved yard owners, trucking companies and their operations were in three states. In just two years it is estimated $14 million was made by the five men indited, all five owned scrap yards. Only four have been sentenced to prison terms, the longest for two years and the shortest time was for ten months. Restitution fines of $1.4 million (largest fine) and $250,000 was the smallest fine. One owner is now a fugitive and until he is captured, probably living it up on millions of dollars he pocketed. In this case, the five ring leaders made millions, their prison sentence and restitution fines was just a "cost of doing business".
The overall investigation lead to major changes in CRV recycling at the scrap yard. A yard I used to do business with was one of twenty recycling centers that loss their CRV certifications (four others voluntary with drew). I now sell directly to a certified CRV processor and no longer sell CRV beverage containers at a scrap yard/recycling center. Who paid and loss the most for the criminal activity of a few "stupid criminals"? All residents of California will pay for it, the small scrap yards, most of them family businesses, that were already having a hard time making a profit, will pay with the loss of revenue a CRV certification can generate.
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