Tagged with 'cooking'

How businesses and municipalities are battling cooking oil thieves

Pump truck emptying grease interceptorAcross the country and around the world criminals are targeting a new kind of “liquid gold” — used cooking oil.

The headlines say it all:

“Three charged in Harford in $1 million scheme to steal used cooking oil”

“Huh? Thieves stealing used cooking grease to turn into quick cash”

“Theft of grease for biofuel gets stickier”

In 2014, two brothers, both in their 70s, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to sell and transport used cooking oil stolen from restaurants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The FBI wiretapped a federal informant to bring the pair to justice, and prosecutors said the two men stole grease worth more than $120,000 over the course of two years.

Businesses and local authorities, though, are fighting back.

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