HUDSON, Colo. (AP) – Colorado continued to pay the owners of a tire dump near Hudson despite a federal investigation and lawsuits alleging securities fraud.

According to the Denver Post, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Waste Tire Program paid more than $490,000 over 15 months to Magnum d’Or Resources.

The SEC later alleged in a lawsuit that ex-chief executive Joseph Glusic participated in a kickback scheme that used bogus consultants to funnel more than $7 million in illicit proceeds from the company’s securities

The dump has an estimated 80 million scrap tires. The program is funded by fees consumers pay on new-tire purchases, and it reimburses businesses for shredding tires.

Glusic and other Magnum managers could not be contacted. The state says it has no jurisdiction over the company.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)