Guilty Pleas Entered In Fraud Scheme Involving Local Environmental Company’s Improper Disposal Of Toxic Chemicals

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced that LUMINAIRE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGIES, INC., pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for the improper disposal of toxic waste. Co-defendants JOHN D. MILLER JR., 61, and JOSEPH V. MILLER, 58, previously entered guilty pleas for their roles in the fraud scheme.

“Luminaire defrauded its customers and, in doing so, exposed the community to the toxic chemicals they had been paid to safely destroy. The United States will vigorously pursue those who steal and pollute for their own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald.

“The laws surrounding the safe management of PCBs exist to protect human health and the environment,” said Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Lynn of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Minnesota. “Instead of complying with those laws, the defendants defrauded their customers and put workers and the public at risk by removing PCB labels and selling PCB-containing fluorescent light ballasts to scrap metal recyclers. EPA and its law enforcement partners are committed to working aggressively to prevent these types of flagrant and dangerous violations.”

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, LUMINAIRE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (“LUMINAIRE”) provided recycling and waste disposal services to customers. Among other services, LUMINAIRE offered to pick up customers’ fluorescent light ballasts containing polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”), transport the PCB-containing ballasts to the LUMINAIRE facility located in Plymouth, Minnesota, and remove and dispose of all the PCBs in accordance with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In exchange, LUMINAIRE charged customers a fee of approximately $0.35 per pound of PCB lighting ballasts plus transportation costs. Because the PCBs contained in the ballasts are considered a toxic chemical, regulations promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) mandate special procedures and documentation for the transportation and disposal of PCB waste.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, between 2010 until 2015, JOHN MILLER, owner of LUMINAIRE, and other LUMINAIRE employees falsely represented to customers that LUMINAIRE would properly transport and dispose of customers’ toxic chemicals. Instead, after picking up loads of PCB-ballasts from customers, JOHN MILLER instructed LUMINAIRE employees to remove warning labels from the containers holding the PCB-ballasts, and then sell the PCB-ballasts as scrap metal to scrap yards and metal recycling facilities. In order to conceal the fact that the PCB-ballasts had not been received and processed at LUMINAIRE’S facility, JOHN MILLER directed LUMINAIRE employees, including JOSEPH MILLER, to falsely certify on shipping manifests that the PCB-ballasts had arrived at LUMINAIRE’S facility. At JOHN MILLER’S direction, LUMINAIRE employees also sent copies of the falsified shipping documentation by mail to customers and to certain state environmental agencies. In addition, JOHN MILLER instructed LUMINAIRE employees to prepare and deliver falsified invoices to customers who, in turn, made payments to LUMINAIRE. As a result of the scheme, LUMINAIRE fraudulently collected more than $1,000,000 in fees and additional profits.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hennepin County Department of Environmental Protection.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin F. Langner and Amber M. Brennan are prosecuting this case.

Defendant Information:                                                                                                                     

LUMINAIRE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Plymouth, Minn.

Convicted:

• Mail fraud, 1 count

JOHN D. MILLER JR., 61

Plymouth, Minn.

Convicted:

• Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 1 count

JOSEPH V. MILLER, 58

Chanhassen, Minn.

Convicted:

• Falsification of documents with intent to obstruct a federal matter, 1 count