9 Are Charged in Recycling Schemes

Eight people associated with a Los Angeles recycling company were arrested Wednesday on charges that they bilked the state out of more than $3 million in bottle and can refunds.

Errol Segal, 60, of Encino, owner of Active Recycling, and eight others are charged with setting up two schemes to defraud the state Department of Conservation’s recycling program. One of the defendants was already in custody on unrelated charges.

According to the 72-count indictment unsealed Wednesday, the company paid people to transport bottles and cans from neighboring states and Mexico to storage yards in Los Angeles. Active Recycling claimed to the state that it had purchased the recyclables and received $2.5 million in refunds in 1999 and 2000, according to the charges.

The state offers refunds for bottles and cans, but only those from inside the state.

The company also allegedly falsified reports and received $635,000 in refunds for bottles and cans that never existed. For those nonexistent materials, the company wrote more than 10,000 checks that were never cashed, according to the charges.

The indictment alleges conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering. It also charges some defendants with trying to coerce potential witnesses into lying.

The department seeks restitution of that money and money from earlier alleged frauds.

The other defendants are Memveluz Lampert, 47, of Redondo Beach; Rosario Lim, 53, of Buena Park; Tigran Petrosyan, 36, of Burbank; Artur Melikyan, 35, of Reseda; Nver Nazinyan, 34, of Tujunga; Matevos Arzumanyan, 43, of Los Angeles; Arman Balabekyan, 33, of Tujunga; and Armen Khachatryan, 47, of Sun Valley.