New Jersey man pleads guilty to leading $600 million catalytic converter theft ring

A New Jersey antheral pleaded blameworthy successful Oklahoma national tribunal to starring a massive theft ring that stole catalytic converters from vehicles and sold them for much than $600 cardinal successful full to a refinery that extracted precious metals contained successful the devices.

The defendant, Navin Khanna, is the latest idiosyncratic to plead blameworthy successful transportation with the ring, which was exposed aft police successful Tulsa, Oklahoma, discovered astir 130 catalytic converters successful the furniture of a motortruck they stopped successful May 2021, aft an off-duty serviceman reported suspicions astir the vehicle.

That halt came during a nationwide surge of thefts successful catalytic converters, which are portion of the exhaust systems of automobiles, and which incorporate precious metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium.

The Justice Department said that Khanna, 41, connected Monday admitted to being the proprietor and relation of D.G. Auto Parts successful New Jersey, and from May 2020 done October 2022, "he conspired with others to acquisition and transport ample quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and different states to New Jersey."

In a plea agreement filed successful U.S. District Court successful Tulsa, Khanna said, "After purchasing these catalytic converters, I resold astir of them to Dowa Metals & Mining, a metallic refinery, which would past extract the powdered precious metals."

CNBC has requested remark from Dowa Metals, whose website says that its Burlington, New Jersey, installation "has played a cardinal relation successful converter recycling successful America since 2016."

Dowa Metals is simply a subsidiary of Japan-based Dowa Holdings Co., which is simply a constituent of the Nikkei 225 banal marketplace index. The institution has not been charged successful transportation with Khanna's case.

Khanna pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of conspiracy to receive, possess, and dispose of stolen goods successful interstate commerce and 5 counts of wealth laundering stemming from his information successful the stolen goods scheme.

The Holmdel, New Jersey, nonmigratory faces a maximum imaginable condemnation of betwixt 14 years and 17½ years successful prison.

An lawyer for Khanna did not instantly reply to a petition for remark from CNBC.

As portion of his plea agreement, Khanna agreed to surrender astir $4 cardinal successful currency and 11 luxury vehicles, among them "Lamborghini, 2 Mercedes AMGs, 2 Ferraris, a McLaren, a Porsche, a Ford F650 Truck, and a BMW M3," the Justice Department said successful a press release.

Authorities besides seized "real property properties, high-end jewelry, golden bars, and implicit 200 pallets of catalytic converters ... during the execution of hunt warrants astatine Khanna's properties," said the DOJ.

"Khanna's theft ringing took vantage of hard-working citizens successful the Northern District of Oklahoma by stealing catalytic converters, rendering the conveyance unusable," Clint Johnson, U.S. lawyer for the Northern District of Oklahoma, said successful a statement.

"I would similar to convey the Tulsa Police Department and our instrumentality enforcement partners for their tireless efforts successful bringing this senseless transgression to justice," said Johnson.

Thirteen different radical person pleaded blameworthy to roles successful the converter theft strategy and are awaiting sentencing, the Justice Department said.