Forbes March Responds To Oil Theft Allegation: Ex-Soap Star Says “Poorly Marked” Container Led To Misunderstanding And “Frivolous Charges”

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: An attorney for Forbes March, the former star of such soaps as One Life to Live and All My Children who was arrested earlier this month in New York State for the alleged theft of used cooking oil, has responded to the charge in an exclusive statement to Deadline saying that March operates a legitimate oil collection service and that a “poorly marked and seemingly abandoned” container was mistaken for one of the containers legally serviced by March’s company. “While not readily apparent to Forbes that day due to the poor markings,” reads the statement released by attorney Jared K.

Hart, “one of the containers in fact allegedly belonged to Buffalo Biodiesel. Approximately 90 gallons of oil, only a portion of the oil collected that evening, allegedly came from the Biodiesel container that appeared abandoned and contained mostly dirty rainwater that would later have to be separated out. “There was never an intent to steal nor permanently deprive another company of their alleged cooking oil,” the statement continues.

March is expected to appear in an Ulster court to formally answer the charge on March 28. March and another man were arrested in Hudson County, New York, earlier this month and charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree for the alleged theft of used cooking oil from an Ulster, New York, restaurant called Michael’s Diner. (Used cooking oil can be used to manufacture biofuels, and oil theft has been on the rise in recent years.) According to an Ulster Police Department report, the value of the oil exceeded $1,000, hence the larceny charge.

But March’s lawyer says that the relatively small amount of oil taken from the Buffalo Biodiesel container is worth at most $300, and that March immediately