In a sizable crackdown on a nationwide theft operation, Navin Khanna, the head of a catalytic converter theft ring, has entered a guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson announced; this case has seen Khanna and his accomplices complicit in the sale of stolen auto parts that accumulated over $600 million, according to U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Khanna, a 31-year-old from Holmdel, New Jersey, is facing one count of conspiracy and five counts of engaging in transactions with criminally derived property, the Justice Department disclosed the scheme involved selling pilfered catalytic converters containing precious metals to middlemen who used special equipment to break them open, with Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti remarking "Unable to extract the metals themselves, thieves sell the stolen parts to middlemen like the defendant and his co-conspirators, who use special equipment to crack the catalytic converters open," in a statement echoed by the U.S. Attorney's Office announcement.
From May 2020 through October 2022, Khanna orchestrated the purchase and transport of stolen catalytic converters from multiple states including Oklahoma and Texas, his criminal enterprise, D.G. Auto Parts, subsequently reselling these converters to a metal refinery for a substantial profit; further to his plea, Khanna agreed to forfeit assets exceeding $4.6 million in cash, property interests, luxury vehicles, high-value jewelry, gold bars, and a large number of catalytic converters seized during the investigation.
An extensive inquiry initiated by the Tulsa Police Department, prompted by a spike in catalytic converter thefts in Tulsa in 2020, uncovered the elaborate conspiracy, resulting in the indictment of Khanna and over twenty individuals across several states, with Khanna's co-defendants in Oklahoma pleading guilty to various charges and agreeing to significant forfeitures, the investigation was supported by multiple law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, as well as state and local law enforcement bodies.
Khanna is now awaiting further proceedings in the Eastern District of California for related crimes, concluding a significant multi-agency operation to dismantle a major criminal network.
