Los Angeles prosecutors targeted two businesses in Pacoima and Anaheim on Wednesday in a civil lawsuit alleging that they received stolen catalytic converters and converted them into cash.

City Attorney Mike Feuer alleged a theft ring involving Gonzalez Brothers of Pacoima and Kinsbursky Brothers Inc. of Anaheim received or sold stolen catalytic converters and then covered up an illegal fencing operation with shoddy bookkeeping.

“California has more catalytic converter theft than any state in the nation, a problem that’s plagued L.A. motorists for far too long,” Feuer said in a statement released during a morning news conference.

“Today, we focus on breaking up the allegedly illegal operations that drive these thefts, and fighting to hold accountable business owners whom we allege don’t play by the rules.”

The civil complaint filed Thursday seeks an injunction against both businesses that bars them from “operating as a clearinghouse for stolen catalytic converters,” while seeking penalties of up to $2,500 for each alleged violation.

Calls to Gonzalez Brothers were not answered. An attorney representing Kinsbursky Brothers said he was stunned by the city attorney’s accusations in light of six months of cooperation by his client in showing compliance in keeping required records.

“KBI vigorously and categorically denies these allegations and is confident that it will be vindicated once this matter is fully litigated,” said Eliot F. Krieger, an attorney based in Long Beach, in a statement. “This appears to be a shake-down by the city attorney’s office targeted at an Orange County business which has always worked with law enforcement in Orange County to stay in compliance with the law.”

Los Angeles police have in the past four years received nearly 4,400 reports about catalytic converters boosted from their cars, then typically sold on the black market, Feuer said. Eight years ago, the state passed a law requiring businesses to keep detailed records on used catalytic converter purchases in an effort to stymie such thefts.

The Los Angeles Police Department then formed a Catalytic Converter Task Force to bust illegal dealers of black market converters, sought after for containing valuable precious metals from platinum, palladium, rhodium to gold.

The city attorney’s lawsuit alleges the task force identified Gonzalez Brothers, an auto parts recycling business at 12970 Branford St. in Pacoima, and Kinsburksky Brothers Inc., a scrap metal recycler at 125 E. Commercial St. in Anaheim, for numerous illicit catalytic converter sales violations.

It says Gonzales Brothers knowingly bought thousands of stolen cat parts and resold them to recyclers that included Kinsbursky, according to the complaint. It also accuses both businesses of bypassing required record keeping and payment operations to fence and launder stolen parts and proceeds.

Los Angeles police during a 2015 surveillance allegedly saw Gonzales Brothers workers buy numerous catalytic converters for cash from known thieves, Feuer said. A subsequent search found more than 300 such parts without the records required by state law.

Further investigation found that Kinsbursky Brothers was one of the largest buyers of Gonzales Brothers parts, having allegedly bought more than 7,000 catalytic converters in 2 1/2 years, without the legally mandated sales records, according to the complaint.

During two months in late 2015, the Anaheim recycler allegedly bought nearly 24,000 catalytic converters during nearly 400 transactions from a variety of sellers, without any of the records required by law.

Kinsbursky Brothers, one largest recyclers of catalytic converters in Southern California, maintains it retains detailed records of all transactions for used catalytic converters it says are obtained mostly from auto wrecking yards and muffler repair shops.

The 60-year-old family business claims it has also employed a reporting system set up by the Anaheim Police Department to record purchases of catalytic converters.

“KBI looks forward to presenting its case,” said Krieger, its attorney, “and proving that the city’s claims are entirely without merit.”