COLUMBUS (WCMH) – A massive crackdown on scrap yards resulted in six companies being exposed for corrupt activity.  Authorities tell NBC4 many of them were buying prohibited or stolen property from sellers.

Police said the citywide investigation showed these scrap yards committed a number of violations including buying from people on the “do not buy from convicted thieves” list.

G-Cor Automotive, New World Recycling, Masser Metals,  Sims Brothers Recycling, PSC Metals and A-Z Recycling are all guilty of breaking the law, according to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.

O’Brien said many of the scrap yards weren’t keeping proper documentation from the people they bought scraps from.

“Frequently, that kind of property ends up being stolen . If you can get rid of the property and you’re a thief, that’s an incentive to the theft in the first place,” O’Brien said.

Authorities said a yearlong undercover investigation brought this criminal activity to light.

“The goal is to deter thieves from having a place to easily take stolen property to and convert  it to cash.  I think the message is, if you’re a scrap yard dealer, you need to comply with the law,” O’Brien said.

He said in additon to issues with documentation, these businesses actually bought scraps that were marked as belonging to someone else, even items from AT&T, Coke, 7UP, railroad company materials and American Electric Power.