San Gabriel Valley poultry plant operators face 43 felony counts of wage theft, insurance fraud

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva attends a information convention to announce a wage theft activity power final 12 months.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions)

An Arcadia couple accused of insurance coverage fraud and wage theft are dealing with dozens of felony expenses after authorities alleged they underreported payroll to employees’ compensation insurance coverage carriers and underpaid staff at their poultry processing enterprise.

Feng Wu Lam, 49, and her husband, Wei Wen Wu, 54, every face 43 felony counts — 34 counts of grand theft of labor, six counts of insurance coverage fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wage theft, the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace introduced Thursday.

The prison criticism features a particular allegation of theft in extra of $500,000, prosecutors stated. Lam and Wu additionally face two misdemeanor counts of wage theft every.

“Wage theft takes hard-earned cash away from working individuals and their households,” Dist. Atty. George Gascón stated. “Unfair enterprise practices like these have an effect on not simply employees but in addition harm our neighborhood by placing law-abiding employers at a aggressive drawback.”

Lam owns the South El Monte-based Golden Meals Inc., a poultry processing firm, prosecutors stated. Wu is the corporate’s supervisor.

Authorities allege the couple underreported their payroll to their employees’ compensation insurance coverage carriers by roughly $4.5 million between 2015 and 2019.

The underreporting allowed them to keep away from about $1.7 million in insurance coverage premiums, prosecutors stated.

Wu and Lam are additionally accused of underpaying their 34 staff by at the least $437,542, prosecutors stated.

California Labor Commissioner Lilia García-Brower stated many wage theft victims “go unheard and unnoticed,” noting that the unfair enterprise apply additionally provides dishonest employers an unfair benefit.

State Insurance coverage Commissioner Ricardo Lara additionally spoke out towards the couple’s alleged crimes and stated employees’ compensation fraud can result in increased insurance coverage premiums for employers who observe the foundations, “and will finally harm employees who're legitimately injured on the job.”

Wu and Lam are scheduled to be arraigned March 29.

Authorities requested anybody who believes they're the sufferer of wage theft to name investigator Eduardo Martinez of the California labor commissioner’s workplace at (818) 901-5305 or e-mail him at edmartinez@dir.ca.gov.