SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — A 19-year-old Springfield resident, Alexander James Bennett, is facing 13 criminal charges related to an alleged theft scam at a local bottle redemption center. According to records from Lane County Circuit Court, Bennett is charged with five counts of second-degree forgery, five counts of identity theft, first-degree theft, computer crime, and possession of a forged instrument.
Bennett is accused, along with another unnamed juvenile, of executing a complex scheme that allegedly defrauded Bottle Drop of approximately $10,000 over the past year. A probable cause affidavit submitted to the court reveals that Bennett unwittingly confessed to his actions while speaking with a police officer at a local grocery store, boasting about the details of the scam.
The investigation began in August when Bottle Drop’s parent company, Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative, notified law enforcement about an internal inquiry that had been ongoing for at least eight months. Authorities discovered that Bennett and his accomplice used apps such as PayPal and Venmo to withdraw funds from victims’ individual green bag Bottle Drop accounts. The digital transactions were traced back to Bennett and the juvenile co-defendant.
Court records further indicate that Bennett shared with the officer how he discovered a TikTok group that sells email addresses and passwords for cryptocurrency, claiming he utilized this information to scam various individuals, including Bottle Drop.
Bennett now faces serious legal consequences as he navigates through the court system for his alleged involvement in this theft scheme.