Inside the investigation into a double-brokering scheme — Long-Haul Crime Log

‘You’ve got a lot of angry people … trying to find out who is trying to find them’

All State Association CEO Steve Avetyan, seen in an internal training video, has denied any involvement in a double-brokering scheme.

Key Takeaways:

  • A podcast episode investigates a large-scale double-brokering scheme defrauding trucking companies.
  • The investigation centers on a Southern California freight brokerage and its owner, Steve Avetyan, who initially denied involvement.
  • The scheme involved a complex network of companies and resulted in numerous victims.
  • Reporter Clarissa Hawes' investigation uncovered the scheme through a tip and subsequent interviews.

Hundreds of trucking companies had been allegedly defrauded in an elaborate scheme utilizing a controversial practice called double brokering. After months of investigating, reporter Clarissa Hawes got a tip that led to a series of bizarre phone calls with the man who owned a freight brokerage at the center of the operation. 

“You’ve got a lot of angry people … trying to find out who is trying to find them, who is trying to hurt their kids, their families,” he told Hawes. 

The latest episode of Long-Haul Crime Log wades into Hawes’ investigation into a network of companies in Southern California connected to the scheme and her efforts to find the people responsible for it. 

It led her to a transportation executive named Steve Avetyan, who once boasted of handing out Rolex watches — he called them “Rollies” — as bonuses for his best sales staff. 

Avetyan claimed to be someone else when Hawes first called him. He eventually admitted to being Avetyan, but denied any involvement in the double-brokering network. 

More from the investigation

About the podcast

Long-Haul Crime Log is a podcast about crime in the trucking industry. Reach out at crime@www.freightwaves.com or find us on Twitter @LongHaulCrime.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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