Man receives 18 months for defrauding scrap metal brokers

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has sentenced David Frisby to 18 months in prison for defrauding scrap metal brokerage firms out of more than $144,000. The sentence was imposed by Chief United States District Judge Glenn Suddaby. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Frisby was ordered to pay $144,216 in restitution to his victims.

Frisby pled guilty Dec. 10, 2015, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme in which he and others entered into contracts for the disposal of batteries and other metal scrap under false pretenses. As part of his plea agreement, Frisby admitted that he and his co-conspirators falsely held themselves out to be representatives of a scrap metal recycling firm that was authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dispose of metal scrap by shipping it to Korea, defrauding businesses and individuals by charging them for recycling services that were never provided. In reality, Frisby and his co-conspirators were not authorized by the EPA to provide scrap metal recycling services and never intended to provide such services.

To further the scheme, Frisby, who formerly served as the CEO of D & L Heritage Enterprises Inc., provided his co-conspirators with D & L Heritage documents that were fraudulently altered and emailed to victims. Victims transferred money to bank accounts maintained by Frisby, who retained a portion of the funds for his personal benefit and transferred the remainder to his co-conspirators overseas, the DOJ says. 

The case was investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigations Division and the EPA Office of the Inspector General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean O’Dowd.