Catalytic converter trader on the run after £4.3m illegal operation

Businessman fled to Lithuania following conviction for unauthorised catalytic converter dealing

Catalytic converter trader on the run after £4.3m illegal operation

A businessman has fled to Lithuania after being found guilty in his absence of illegally trading catalytic converters, an operation that generated £4.3 million. Edvars Stancik, former director of Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, was convicted of multiple charges after failing to appear for his trial at Lincoln Crown Court in September 2024.

Stancik conducted large-scale trading of catalytic converters between December 2019 and September 2021 through his company. An arrest warrant was issued, and a recent proceeds of crime hearing confirmed he remains unapprehended. Recorder John Hardy KC stated that Stancik had “decamped from the country after illegally selling catalytic converters without the required authorisation.”

Investigators located a potential address for the 31-year-old in Lithuania, but he did not respond. Extradition proceedings have not yet commenced, with the Environment Agency focusing on recovering investigation costs from seized company assets.

The court determined that Stancik’s criminal activities generated £4.3 million, with his company benefiting by a similar amount. Nearly £500,000 in assets were available from the company’s bank accounts and seized catalytic converters. Stancik’s only personal asset was £30,934 from a house sale prior to his trial. The judge ordered these amounts to be confiscated, with over £100,000 designated as compensation to the Environment Agency for investigation costs. A custodial sentence is anticipated upon his arrest, with potential for further asset seizures.

The Environment Agency’s investigation revealed that Stancik stored car parts, including damaged catalytic converters “exposing their dangerous innards,” at his home and in containers in Long Sutton, in a manner deemed hazardous to human health. He and his company were found to have bought and sold at least 71 tonnes of catalytic converters for recycling without proper authorisation. Stancik had pleaded not guilty to four environmental offences.

Source: BBC News

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