Lawsuit aims to void $1 transfer of Lackawanna Recycling Center ownership

A lawsuit aiming to void the $1 transfer of ownership of the Lackawanna Recycling Center in Scranton claims it was done as a fraudulent shield against potential civil rights claims regarding inmate labor there.

The plaintiff, Vsevolod Garanin of Staten Island, New York, names as defendants Lackawanna Recycling Center at 3400 Boulevard Ave., which is a private company, and the Lackawanna County Solid Waste Management Authority.

Garanin filed the lawsuit in Lackawanna County Court in March on a pro se basis, meaning by himself and without an attorney.

Claims and allegations in the lawsuit include:

• In June 2022, the authority executed a deed transferring the center property at 3400 Boulevard Ave. to Lackawanna Recycling Center for $1. The deed was not recorded until Sept. 4, 2024.

• At the time of the transfer, the authority was aware of existing or pending claims against it based on three prior federal lawsuits, including a class-action case dating to 2014 and two separate lawsuits by Garanin filed in 2021 and 2023.

• The authority transferred the recycling center property “to hinder, delay, or defraud existing or foreseeable creditors,” and the defendants knew or should have known the property could be subject to creditor claims.

• While not a formal creditor at the time of the property transfer, Garanin has an “anticipated claim” and thus is affected by the transfer because he would be “unable to access or collect against the property without court intervention.”

• The lawsuit seeks to void the transfer and impose a trust or lien on the property in favor of Garanin.

After unsuccessful attempts to have the lawsuit served upon Lackawanna Recycling Center, Garanin filed a motion in June to serve the lawsuit via public notices. A judge issued an order for such service to be done via public notices. A public notice of the lawsuit ran in The Times-Tribune on Tuesday.

Service of the lawsuit via public notice gives Lackawanna Recycling Center 20 days to acknowledge the suit with a written appearance by an individual or attorney, or potentially face a default judgment in favor of Garanin.

Neither defendant has yet entered a formal reply in the case. Efforts by The Times-Tribune were unsuccessful Wednesday to reach Lackawanna Recycling Center and the county solid waste authority for comment on the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the class-action lawsuit referenced by Garanin against Lackawanna Recycling Center and the county remains pending in federal court. This case reached a significant step in May, when a judge determined it can proceed as a class action by people jailed who claimed they were coerced to work at the recycling facility for $5 a day.

Garanin’s two federal lawsuits raised similar civil rights claims of exploitation of inmate labor. Both Garanin’s federal lawsuits had numerous defendants and fairly extensive proceedings over the years. The 2021 case was closed in 2025 after all defendants were terminated from that case or voluntarily dismissed by Garanin. The 2023 case remains pending.