California has charged five people with defrauding the state's recycling program out of $80.3 million — the largest alleged fraud scheme in the program's history, officials said Thursday.
The owner and four employees of Recycling Services Alliance Corporation are charged with swindling the state's beverage container recycling program over several years by accepting recyclables purchased in other states and faking the paperwork, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced.
The state Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery said it's the largest ever alleged fraud involving the 5- or 10-cent deposits consumers pay on certain beverage containers. The self-funded program has recently been having substantial financial problems leading to the closure of many of the state's private recycling centers.
Consumers can recoup the deposits by turning in the containers at recycling centers. Those centers are responsible for accepting only eligible bottles and cans that were sold in California.
Company owner Shengchien Tseng, 49, of Cupertino, and employees Maximina Perez, 50, of San Leandro; Alejandra Lazaro-Martinez, 26, of Hayward; Veronica Castillo, 35, of Sacramento; and Marlene Davalos-Mendez, 28, of Rocklin, were indicted in December on 166 counts including grand theft, recycling fraud, perjury and conspiracy.