Nassau cops: Stolen catalytic converters, more than $7M seized

Nassau County police seized thousands of stolen catalytic converters — and more than $7 million — after executing search warrants Wednesday as part of a yearlong investigation into thefts of the devices.

Investigators served the search warrants before dawn at the separate Long Beach homes of Andrew Pawelsky, 24, and his brother, Alan Pawelsky, 20, Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at a news conference in Mineola. Police did the same Wednesday at two Island Park scrapyards operated by the brothers, according to the commissioner.

Officers seized $3.9 million in cash from Alan Pawelsky’s home, more than $100,000 from Andrew Pawelsky’s residence and thousands of catalytic converters from the scrapyards, Ryder said.

Neither brother, nor a third man served with a related warrant in Huntington, have been charged in connection with the theft of the catalytic converters, which Ryder referred to as "cat cons," but the investigation is ongoing, he said.

“To all those that buy the cat cons and all those who steal the cat cons, we ain’t done yet,” Ryder said. “We ain’t even close to being done. Every [scrap] yard that has turned a blind eye and taken these in, you better open up both those of eyes because the next knock on the door is going to be the Nassau County Police Department.”

Police also seized $3.2 million from bank accounts linked to the Pawelsky brothers’ business, the commissioner said.

The theft of catalytic converters skyrocketed during the past year, officials said, because the prices of precious metals in the devices, which filter out harmful byproducts in automobile emissions, have dramatically increased. 

“So many of our residents have complained that they have had their catalytic converters stolen,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at the news conference. “This last year, in the tristate area, the theft of catalytic converters has gone up 300%.”

Police and federal law enforcement also executed a search warrant at the Huntington home of Mazhar Abdullah, who operates a business there called Max Auto Recycling, Ryder said.

Police did not say how the search of Abdullah's home was connected to those in Long Beach.

Officials displayed a large bag of cash they said was seized from the Pawelsky brothers' homes as well as dozens of catalytic converters. Hundreds more of the devices were on display in the back of a van parked outside Nassau police headquarters. Some of the stolen converters, officials said, may have come from outside Nassau. 

Police also seized three vehicles, thousands more catalytic converters, financial records, cellphones, video systems and other items while executing the search warrants, Ryder said. 

Andrew Pawelsky and Alan Pawelsky could not be immediately reached for comment and Abdullah did not return messages left with family members. 

Homeland Security Special-Agent-in-Charge Christopher Lau said the investigation began with a tip from his agency’s office in St. Paul, Minnesota. That tip, he said, eventually led investigators to Nassau County. 

Thieves using electric saws can remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle in a matter of minutes, Ryder said. The thieves take the devices to unscrupulous scrapyards, which pay between $300 and $1,000 for the devices.

Officers seized five machines at the Pawelsky brothers’ businesses that are used to crush, or “decant,” the catalytic converters. The process turned the metals — rhodium, palladium and platinum — into a fine powder, Ryder said. The powder was then shipped to a company in Montana, which wired the proceeds of the sale to the brothers’ bank accounts. The Montana company is not suspected of illegal activity, officials said. 

Rhodium is worth more than $12,000 an ounce, Ryder said, while palladium is $1,800 an ounce. Platinum is $1,000 an ounce. 

“Make no mistake, these are not simple thefts,” Donnelly said. “These are criminal organizations that are profiting on a large scale.” 

Ryder urged residents to park their vehicles in well-lit areas and to call police if they hear electric saws at odd hours in their neighborhoods.

The commissioner said the catalytic converter thefts are happening all over the county.

“Everywhere, everywhere,” Ryder said. “We get complaints about this every day.”