"Hack Plugin" won't insert special characters

Hello,
I’m currently trying to build a ‘quick admin’ with a script I built outside of wordpress.

The script takes the contents of a csv file and inserts it into the database.

However, whenever a Non-UTF character gets put into one of the fields the insert won’t finish for the field (column). It cuts off at the special character. In my case it’s –. I know I could Find & Replace it but other characters will be an issue.

I’m using the integration method as specified in the wordpress codex. Here is a sample:

require('globals.php');
    require('functions.php');
    require('csv.class.php');
    define('WP_USE_THEMES', false);
    require('../wp-blog-header.php');

Here’s a sample of the script:

[Code moderated as per the Forum Rules. Please use the pastebin]

I see that wordpress can do a post with special characters (including –). So wordpress can do this. But I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. Should I be using prepare?!