Posted on 09/28/2007 11:58:39 AM PDT by nuconvert
Michigan Officials Bust Bottle-Deposit Fraud Ring
DETROIT — They did what Kramer and Newman of "Seinfeld" could not.
Thirteen people have been arrested in connection with a smuggling ring that collected millions of beverage containers in other states and cashed them in for 10 cents apiece in Michigan as part of a scam straight out of a "Seinfeld" episode, authorities said Wednesday.
Authorities seized more than $500,000 in cash and 15 people were named in a 67-count warrant issued as part of Operation Can Scam, Attorney General Mike Cox said Wednesday. Some suspects were members of two smuggling rings based in Ohio and others were Michigan merchants who took part in the scheme, he said.
The probe recalled a 1996 episode of "Seinfeld" in which two characters learn about Michigan's 10-cent deposit law and head there with a truckload of 5-cent New York cans, hoping to cash in on the difference, before getting sidetracked.
"A half-million in cash is not 'Seinfeld' humor," Cox spokesman Matt Frendewey said.
Investigators alleged that millions of non-redeemable out-of-state cans were collected, crushed, packaged in plastic bags and sold at a discount to merchants who then redeemed them. Bulk redemption payments from the state are based on weight.
The scheme defrauded the Michigan Bottle Deposit Fund, whose proceeds are used to pay for environmental cleanup efforts, Cox said in a statement.
"Each year, this type of activity defrauds the state approximately $13 million," said Col. Peter Munoz,
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
With the help of Goober as his back-up, the Barney Fife deep cover operation finally comes to this fruitful conclusion. Andy is proud of this fine deputy.
Aunt Bee baked a pie to honor Barney.
Its not a recycling program buying aluminum in bulk. It is the administration of a ten cents per can deposit program that has been in effect in Michigan since 1976.
It is easier for stores to crush the cans to reduce bulk, and the state pays the deposit amount according to weight.
Bulk aluminum is worth about .001 cents per can, not ten cents. Returning a can for ten cents when that can was never charged ten cents at the time of purchase is fraud.
“...they need the people to pay a deposit on cans and bottles and then throw those bottles out the window of their car, so that the state can hire someone to go around and pick up those bottles and cans.”
I believe the purpose of the deposit is to encourage people to not throw the cans out their windows, so the state does not have to pay someone to go around and collect them.
On most cans/bottles that are refundable, there is a list of states and how much you can get for that can in each state.
I always thought that returning and item in one of the listed states would give you that amount and it was independent of where the can was purchased.
There’s no notice that you can’t use out of state cans anywhere. I can’t believe there is an actual law against this.
It's not smuggling, and what you outline is perfectly legal. It's when you take the can to a store to collect the ten cent deposit that you never paid at time of purchase that is fraud, and it is illegal.
So all the work they put into collecting, crushing, and bagging these cans was for naught. They should at least get to keep SOME of the money for their effort.
Or is the real reason revenue from the unclaimed deposit, rather than litter problem?
“Is this real?? It’s illegal to recycle a frigging aluminum can in MI if you bought it in another state??”
No. It is not illegal to recycle an aluminum can in MI if you bought it in another state. It is illegal to collect the deposit because the deposit was never payed on the out-of-state can.
If that's the case, then cans bought out of state should be littering Michigan's landscape by the barrel full.
“My next door neighbor used to drink a case of Michelob a day bought in RI with no deposit and redeemed in CT or MA for the nickles.”
A case a day? When did he find time to redeem them?
He drank a case of beer a day and still was able to drive? Who's your neighbor? Billy Carter?
But the beaches, highways,and parks were filthy with discarded cans and bottles. It really was a mess.
If nothing else, the bottle deposit law has served to really clean up these areas. Now I would vote for it. If you don't live here, don't rail about it.
Perhaps a dime is too much, but the fact is, it works.
“It’s illegal to recycle a frigging aluminum can in MI if you bought it in another state??”
It is not illegal to recycle aluminum cans in MI. What is illegal is claiming the deposit refund if you have not paid it.
That said, it is almost impossible to enforce that law unless the violators are stupid or incredibly greedy. Get a couple of hundred a year by bringing cans from out of state and claiming them $5 to $10 a week, and it is impossible to catch you. Get involved in a scheme dealing in $100Ks of dollars and multiple people in the conspiracy and you are begging to be caught.
After all, as a founding father once observed three can keep a secret if two are dead.
Not that I would admit to skiting on refunds — at least within the statute of limitations. Now back in the 1980s when I was visiting my parents in Michigan we discovered we could collect the Michigan can deposit on a bag of pop cans empties we had brought up from Texas in the van we drove to Michigan (we were hanging on to the pop cans we brought up with us to recycle them in TX at 25 cents/per pound, but) . . . .
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Ping.
I don’t know how this works. Do you have to pay an extra 10 cents every time you buy a can of pop in MI? Do you have to take the can to the store where you bought it to get the “deposit” back? What about pop machines? Where do you take those cans? And how do they know where you bought the can? This is way too complicated for an empty aluminum can.
And I bet a lot of these are tossed by out of staters.
Anyhow the roads really look better.
Considering that there is a free donut in every bottle of Michelob, your neighbor must be a fat bastard.
This scam only works if you have a free Postal Service truck to transport the cans. Otherwise it’s not cost effective.
Yes we smuggled to two six packs of diet soda.
That's sort of the idea with a deposit *refund*, isn't it?
If it says right on the can that it is eligible for a Michigan Deposit, then there is no way to PROVE you're commiting fraud. However, if you buy a can in a no-deposit state, it will NOT say it is eligible for deposit on the can.
That is where the Seinfeld thing comes into play. The cans they get DO say they are eligible for five cents in NY, and ten cents in MI. Buy a can in IN and it says NOTHING on the can. THAT will get you busted if you get caught returning it for a deposit refund.
LOL You forgot the /s tag.
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