NJ Biz Owner Admits Conning Customers Out Of $2.1M By Substituting Dirt, Debris For Scrap

The owner of a New Jersey-based scrap metal company told a customer that dirt and debris found packed into a container shipped to Korea that was supposed to hold aluminum scrap was a mistake, authorities said.

Rather than risk the consequences of a guilty verdict at a trial, Creed White took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to wire fraud on Wednesday, Aug. 2, in U.S. District Court in Camden.
Photo Credit: *historynjdc.org*

Jerry DeMarco

08/03/2023 2:06 p.m.

Turns out it wasn’t.

Creed White, 64, of Freeland, Maryland, admitted in federal court in Camden this week that he scammed a dozen or so businesses out of more than $2 million, authorities said on Thursday, Aug. 3.

Using the name “Dan Stein,” White contacted one of the victims through an Internet message board on behalf of his Camden-based company American Scrap company, a complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Camden says.

White sold the victim 25 containers of aluminum scrap metal in exchange for $629,973 in wire payments, the complaint says.

Inside the first container to arrive in Korea, the buyer only found dirt and debris, it says.

The victim reached out to White to complain and met him in person in Newark in March 2017.

White, still posing as “Dan Stein,” assured the victim that he would correct the mistake and even provide reimbursement, the complaint says.

Before sending the next shipment, White sent the victim photos of a container filled with aluminum scrap along with a copy of the New York Post on top to document when the photos were taken, it says.

Sure enough, every one of the remaining containers arrived in Korea filled with dirt, debris or plastic waste and no aluminum, federal agents said.

White promised to make the victim whole and sent $15,000 in wire transfers as good faith money, the complaint says.

The victim never got the rest, it says.

White ran the con game for nearly a decade, beginning in 2010, victimizing at least 13 businesses to the tune of $2.1 million, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.

“He obtained payments from certain victims for shipments of scrap metal that he never shipped and obtained scrap metal from certain victims and then failed to pay those victims for the materials he obtained,” the U.S. attorney said.

Rather than risk the consequences of a guilty verdict at a trial, White took a deal from the government, pleading guilty to wire fraud on Wednesday, Aug. 2, in U.S. District Court in Camden.

Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI with the investigation leading to the plea, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Grace, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in Newark.

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