BUSHWICK — A real estate broker was arrested Wednesday after using a phony license to collect and sell thousands of gallons of used restaurant grease, sources told DNAinfo New York.
Seon Intrator, 45, allegedly bought used grease from fast food restaurants in Williamsburg, Bushwick and Flushing, Queens, and then sold it to waste transfer stations for four times the price — while flashing a fake waste hauling license at the shopkeepers, authorities said.
Intrator was arrested Wednesday morning by the NYPD Organized Crime Investigations Division and Business Integrity Commission investigators and charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Sources told DNAinfo Intrator sold up to 1,000 gallons of grease each week from March until June.
She allegedly convinced the eateries to sell her their waste for just $1 a gallon, and then sold it for $3 or $4 per gallon to waste stations, which use the grease to make ethanol and other products. Intrator even bought a 14-foot box truck for $10,000 to haul about 250 gallons at a time, sources said.
“Brazen tactics like these show what the good actors are up against," said Shari C. Hyman, the commissioner of the Business Integrity Commission. "We are happy to be partnering with legitimate industry business to keep their marketplace level and competitive."
Sources said the eateries all thought Intrator had a license, but a certified waste hauler who was losing business to Intrator noticed she had the wrong type of license plates so sent a tip to the Business Integrity Commission.
The agency then conducted a sting and caught her in the act at a Checkers restaurant in Williamsburg, sources said.
Intrator, who had allegedly been struggling to turn a profit in her real estate job, targeted North Brooklyn because of the high concentration of restaurants, Hyman said, noting that grease banditry "happens more often than people would imagine" because of the liquid's value. There are about 20,000 restaurants in New York City and 15,000 of those produce grease.
Intrator was awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Wednesday afternoon.
Edelweiss Enterprise Property, the brokerage where Intrator works, did not immediately answer calls requesting comment.
