Can Scam MICHIGAN (wgvu) - Cashing in cans and bottles from other states to
collect 10-cent Michigan deposits is illegal.
But Attorney General Mike Cox says that's just what 15 people
were caught doing.
Cox says 13 of the 15 have been arrested, and more than $500,000
in cash has been seized, as part of "Operation Can Scam."
He says some suspects belonged to smuggling rings based in Ohio,
and others were Michigan merchants in on the scheme.
The charges include maintaining a continuing criminal
enterprise, a 20-year felony.
The probe recalled a 1996 episode of "Seinfeld." Two
characters learned about Michigan's 10-cent deposit and headed
there with a truckload of 5-cent New York cans -- hoping to cash in
on the difference -- before getting sidetracked.
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