Dive Brief:
- Waste broker Ecube Labs, which operates under the name Haulla Services, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is involved in a separate lawsuit that Waste Connections brought against it in March 2024, alleging that Haulla used numerous online schemes — including breaking into a company system and impersonating real customers — to steal business from Waste Connections.
- A Texas bankruptcy court yesterday approved Haulla’s request to borrow up to $1.5 million from its parent company, Ecube Labs Ltd., to keep its business afloat. It can immediately borrow $500,000 of that amount, according to court documents. Haulla filed for bankruptcy in October.
- Waste Connections in September filed an updated complaint in its fraud case against Haulla, saying the parent company “conspired with Haulla” and should also be held accountable for the alleged fraudulent activities. Ecube Labs Ltd. was not included in the original lawsuit against Haulla.
Dive Insight:
Waste Connections’ lawsuit claims Haulla stole “confidential and proprietary customer information” and used it to encourage Waste Connections customers to “breach their contracts and sign contracts with Haulla instead.”
The lawsuit alleges Haulla illegally accessed Waste Connections’ web-based customer portal, created at least 2,500 fake customer profiles, and impersonated customers through emails and phone calls in an effort to learn confidential pricing information and other terms of service details. Waste Connections says it first noticed this activity in 2023.
Waste Connections also claims some of Haulla’s “agents” gained access to Waste Connections’ portal by repeatedly guessing security questions on real customers’ profiles. Others allegedly used the website’s chat function to impersonate customers in order to learn account numbers or get copies of invoices, according to the lawsuit.
Waste Connections of Texas, along with affiliates Waste Connections Lone Star and El Paso Disposal and Waste, say the issue has damaged customer relationships and hurt business. As of September, Haulla was still using similar tactics to gain access to Waste Connections’ data, the complaint alleges.
Waste Connections says the practice has generated revenue for Haulla while transferring any potential contract liability onto new customers. Haulla, in court documents, has denied numerous claims related to Waste Connections’ complaint.
In the September lawsuit update, Waste Connections alleges that Haulla’s parent company provided necessary resources to fuel the ongoing deception.
Waste Connections says Ecube Labs Ltd. allegedly provided Haulla “financing and capital” to conduct its operations, as well as sales leads. Ecube Labs Ltd. also provided some of the employees who helped carry out the scheme, including several working from the Philippines, the court filing alleges.
“At every step of the fraudulent scheme, Limited and Haulla have been linked and working in lockstep,” the complaint says.
Ecube Labs Ltd. is based in South Korea. That company is known for its tech-enabled waste bin technologies and waste analytics services.
A Texas-based judge in the fraud case recently extended a deadline for the discovery period to allow more time to translate documents from Korean and coordinate with international courts. The parties are due back in court on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, a final hearing on Haulla’s bankruptcy case will also take place on Dec. 10 in a separate Texas bankruptcy court.
That court found on Monday that Haulla will be unable to operate or “preserve and maintain the value of its assets” without its loan from Ecube Labs Ltd.
Haulla touts itself online as providing broker services, but also offering a method for customers to get out of longer-term contracts with other companies. “Many businesses are stuck in long-term contracts with haulers that are overcharging them. Haulla can help,” the website says.
According to financial statements filed in bankruptcy court, Haulla lists numerous other waste companies as creditors, including Waste Connections, Aspen Waste, Apex Waste Solutions and others.
