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Trial of Inland recyclers charged in $7 million scam to begin in Riverside
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Trial of Inland recyclers charged in $7 million scam to begin in Riverside
Trial of Inland recyclers charged in $7 million scam to begin in Riverside
A Riverside judge could decide this week if a trio of Inland Empire recyclers should be tried for allegedly running a $7 million recycling scam.
Howard Fred Leveson operates a big recycling firm in Perris, east of Riverside. State prosecutors say he and two coworkers went to Arizona and hauled aluminum cans – about four-and-a-half million pounds of them – into California.
They say Leveson and his buddies then cashed in those cans through the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund program. The state pays about a dollar and 60 cents a pound for aluminum cans – but only if they’re collected in California.
The high volume of recycling generated by the Leveson facility raised suspicions and triggered an investigation by the agency that oversees statewide can and bottle redemptions in California.
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Leveson and the other suspects are charged with multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy and grand theft. If they’re tried and convicted, they could be sentenced to seven years in state prison.
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