It Takes Less Than One Minute

It was a lucrative family business until an FBI nation-wide crackdown brought it to a screeching halt. Two brothers and their mother ran the business out of their residence. They made over $38 million, connecting stolen catalytic converters to a processor.

The processor received stolen catalytic convertors from similar businesses all over the U.S. We’ve all heard that catalytic converters have precious metal in them and that’s why thieves steal them. You might think there’s gold in a catalytic converter—they contain palladium, platinum, and rhodium—metals more valuable than gold. Through a de-canning process, the processor extracted the precious metal powders and sold them to a refinery.

In a nutshell, thieves steal catalytic converters from your car in under one minute. They sell them to a middleman or woman like the family in this case. The middleperson sells them to a processer who sells the metal powder to a refinery. After the refinery purifies the metal powders, they sell them to manufacturers who use them in many products.

The two brothers and their mother were three of many warrants and many indictments issued in the nation-wide crackdown. Prior to their apprehension, they were living “the good life.” All three have pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport stolen catalytic converters from one state to another.

A judge sentenced the 33-year-old brother—the one the FBI called the leader of family business—to 12 years in prison. The court has not yet sentenced the 28-year-old brother or their 54-year-old mother. As part of the sentencing, the brother forfeited almost $200,000 in cash, 13 vehicles, four watercraft, jewelry, real estate and more.

A U.S. Attorney associated with the case, said,

“This defendant led a network of criminals that hurt thousands of innocent car owners.”

Source: U.S. District Court, U.S. Department of Justice, NBC KCRA 3

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