Investigations

On August 1 and 2, 2017, Craig Cinelli and Joseph Cinelli, Sr., brothers and coowners of Cinelli Iron & Metal Co. (CIMCO),were charged by indictment and arrested for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.

 

CIMCO, which was headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey, purchased scrap metal for resale and operated three scrap metal recycling facilities in the State. CIMCO trucks would deliver scrap metal containers to customer jobsites and remove them after they were filled. CIMCO then purportedly paid customers based on the type and net weight of the scrap material.

 

The indictment alleges that from approximately 1999 through March 2016, Craig Cinelli and Joseph Cinelli, Sr., among others, used a variety of fraudulent business practices to buy scrap metal from CIMCO’s customers, including the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a DOT grantee, for less than CIMCO should have paid. The company then resold the scrap metal at a profit. Instead of paying the proper, agreed-upon amounts for the actual weight, members of the conspiracy used a variety of techniques to misrepresent the true weight and type of the scrap metal, including altering documents to reflect a lower weight, removing scrap metal from a haul before it was weighed, and misrepresenting the types of scrap metal contained in a haul.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this case jointly with the Department of Labor’s OIG and the FBI; the case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.

 

Note: Indictments, informations, and criminal complaints are only accusations by the government, all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.