LOS ANGELES – The manager of Seven-Bros Enterprises in La Puente, Howard Quoc Trinh, 41, of Arcadia, was indicted for offering $10,000 in bribes to a Department of Labor Wage and Hour Investigator, officials said.
A federal grand jury indicted states that the bribe was offered in exchange for the investigator closing an investigation into wage violations, according to authorities. As part of the bribery scheme, Trinh actually paid the investigator $3,000, according to a criminal complaint previously filed in this case.
If convicted, Trinh faces up to 10 years in prison, officials said.
The criminal complaint alleges the following facts and circumstances:
- The investigator was investigating Seven-Bros for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets standards for minimum wage and overtime pay.
- The Labor Department Wage and Hour investigator led a team that conducted an unannounced visit to Seven-Bros on March 10.
- The investigation into wage violations covered a period from May 2012 through March 10, 2015, and found that Seven-Bros owed about $100,000 to compensate employees for FLSA violations over that period.
- The investigator returned to Seven-Bros on March 18, at which time Trinh said he did not owe his employees any back wages and that he wanted to “take care” of the investigator.
- In response to Trinh’s statements, the Labor Department’s Office of Investigator General initiated an investigation and outfitted the investigator with recording equipment.
- On the evening of March 18, during a recorded meeting, Trinh allegedly offered the investigator $10,000 to close out the investigation without finding any violations.
- The next day, during another recorded meeting, Trinh gave the investigator an initial payment of $3,000 in a manila envelope.
The criminal complaint was filed on March 20, and Trinh was arrested by OIG special agents.