Seven indicted for stealing heating oil from Brooklyn terminal

Seven individuals have been indicted in connection with the theft of heating oil valued at approximately $500,000 from a terminal in Brooklyn, announced Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Wednesday, February 25.

“These defendants are charged with running a scheme to systematically steal heating oil from a Brooklyn terminal to enrich themselves and we intend to now hold them accountable,” said Thompson.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, between January and July 2014, the defendants facilitated the theft of hundreds of thousands of gallons of heating oil from Buckeye Partners, L.P., which owns and operates an oil terminal at 722 Court Street and employed two of the defendants.

Once stolen, the oil was sold at a fraction of the retail cost and the crime was covered up.

“More than 50 individuals and nine companies working in an around the city’s heating oil industry have now been indicted in connection with this alleged widespread fraud. In the case announced last fall, the defendants were charged with profiting from the sale of heating oil stolen from residential and municipal buildings,” said Vance. “Today’s indictment represents a continuation of that investigation, as well as my office and our partners’ commitment to rooting out fraud in this industry.”

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