south el monte Food company execs face insurance fraud, wage theft charges

Two executives of a poultry processing company face several charges on suspicion of underreporting their payroll to workers’ compensation insurance carriers and failing to pay their employees, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Feng Wu Lam, 49, who owns South El Monte-based Golden Food Inc., and her husband, Wei Wen Wu, 54, the company’s manager, are accused of underreporting their payroll to their workers’ compensation insurance carriers by about $4.5 million between 2015 and 2019, resulting in unlawfully avoiding approximately $1.7 million in workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

They are also accused of underpaying at least $437,542 to their 34 employees who debone and package chicken.

“Wage theft takes hard-earned money away from working people and their families,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “Unfair business practices like these affect not just workers but also hurt our community by putting law-abiding employers at a competitive

disadvantage.”

The defendants, both residents of Arcadia, each face 43 felony counts, including two counts of conspiracy to commit wage theft, 34 counts of grand theft of labor and six counts of insurance fraud. They also face two misdemeanor counts of wage theft.

The complaint includes a special allegation of theft exceeding $500,000.

“These business owners not only allegedly underreported payroll to illegally save on workers’ compensation insurance, they also failed to pay their employees for their hard work,” California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in the statement.

“Workers’ compensation fraud can lead to higher insurance premiums for employers who follow the rules and may ultimately hurt workers who are legitimately injured on the job.”

The couple is scheduled to be arraigned March 29 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.

hlee@scng.com