Three Trash-Hauling Firms Charged With Rigging Bids

Felony charges were filed Wednesday against three trash-hauling firms accused by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office of conspiring to eliminate competition and rig bids for large corporate and government contracts.

The criminal complaint, filed in Los Angeles Municipal Court, names Athens Disposal Co. Inc. of the City of Industry; Metropolitan Disposal, Montebello, and PJB Disposal, Alhambra.

Four officials from Athens Disposal were also charged. They are owners Ronald J. Arakelian Sr., 52, and Ronald J. Arakelian Jr., 30, both of Diamond Bar; sales manager Vincent E. Bruno, 51, Carson, and former general manager Alan Lockwood, 50, Walnut.

The four, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, are expected to surrender today at the Los Angeles County Criminal Courts Building, said Dewain Barrett, senior investigator with the district attorney’s office.

Barrett said the three companies maintained artificially high prices by dividing up accounts and agreeing not to underbid each other for lucrative contracts.

If a trash hauler submitted a competitive bid, the company that had held the contract previously would demand compensation, either in cash or in comparable accounts, Barrett said.

If not compensated, a company would retaliate by “blitzing” the offending competitor, luring away clients by offering to haul trash for as little as half the going rate, Barrett said.

The district attorney’s investigation centered on Athens Disposal’s “blitzing” of Perdomo and Sons Disposal. The East Los Angeles firm lost 40 accounts to Athens after it submitted the low bid to haul trash for the Alhambra school district.

Metropolitan and PJB had agreed to submit higher bids to enable Athens to raise its prices and still keep the school district contract, Barrett said.

Companies found guilty of such antitrust activities may be fined $1 million; individuals may be fined $100,000 and sentenced to as much as three years in prison.

Barrett said the firms named in the complaint represent “the tip of the iceberg” of price-fixing that he said is pervasive in the trash-hauling industry. The district attorney’s office is currently investigating other haulers, he said.