PITTSBURGH — Three employees and two customers at Don’s Car Crushing in South Carolina have been arrested and face charges of falsifying scale tickets and overpaying for material.
William Ammons, Hoyt Richardson and George Gardner were employees at the Sellers, S.C., facility and have been charged with breach of trust, obtaining property valued at $10,000 or more under false pretenses and criminal conspiracy. They were booked at the Marion County Detention Center and released on bond. Gardner was also charged with possession of drugs.
Jason Smith and Ted Harper were customers and have been charged with breach of trust and obtaining property of $10,000 or more under false pretenses as well as criminal conspiracy.
The investigation was initiated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Department at the request of a manager at the scrapyard. The manager told AMM that some employees were padding the scale tickets to certain customers, who were paid too much for the scrap.
The manager said a daily visual audit of the scale slips in February brought the issue to light when she noticed a pay slip for more than $1,000 on a load of nonferrous material. “I’ve been doing this all my life and something triggers in you and know something’s not right,” she said.
The manager said she then decided to look at older pay slips, noticed a fraudulent pattern and contacted the sheriff’s office.