Scrap dealer pleads guilty to conspiracy to steal catalytic converter in multiple states

A Virginia scrap dealer pleaded guilty this week to theft and charges related to his participation in a multistate catalytic converter theft conspiracy.

According to court documents, Theodore Nicholas Papouloglou, 45, used his business, DG Auto South in Emporia, Va., to buy catalytic converters stolen from thieves. Papouloglou then transported the stolen catalytic converters to his co-conspirators in New Jersey to ship the catalytic metals to Japan.

Prosecutors said that in 2020 and 2021, Papouloglou received more than $12.2 million in wire payments from his co-conspirators in New Jersey, including proceeds from the illegal sale of catalytic converters.

Despite making income from DG Auto South, Papouloglou failed to pay taxes in 2020 and 2021, prosecutors charged.

Papouloglou, who is from North Carolina, separately helped his New Jersey co-conspirators buy stolen catalytic converters from other sellers, including sellers in Texas and Oklahoma, facilitating bulk cash payments. The total value of the funds that Papouloglou illegally transferred was at least $6.6 million.

Law enforcement seized and Papouloglou agreed to impound eight vehicles associated with the crime, including a Mercedes, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, two McLarens, two Fords and a Jeep.

Catalytic converters, which reduce toxic gases and pollutants from a vehicle’s exhaust system, use precious metals in their centers or “cores” and are regularly targeted for theft due to the high value of these metals, particularly palladium, platinum and rhodium . Experts say some of these are worth more per ounce than gold, and the black market price for catalytic converters can exceed $1,000. A catalytic converter can be stolen from a car’s undercarriage in less than a minute.

U.S. District Judge David J. Novak accepted the guilty plea. Papouloglou is scheduled to be sentenced on February 20, 2025.

The US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice participated in the investigation and prosecution.

Source: US Attorney

TOPICS
Fraud