Report: Owners of Chinese Buffets Accused of Wage Theft, Comp Fraud

Thursday, June 15, 2017 | 0

Owners of four Northern California Chinese restaurants are accused of stealing millions of dollars in wages owed to workers, cheating the state out of millions in taxes, and workers’ compensation fraud, according to a report by the East Bay Times.

A grand jury in Contra Costa County in December indicted owners and managers of Golden Dragon Buffet in Brentwood, New Dragon Buffet in San Leandro, Golden Wok Buffet in Roseville and Kokyo Sushi Buffet in Hayward on 28 charges including conspiracy, wage theft and comp fraud, the Times reports.

Three people — Brandon Quang, Gou Cai Feng and Lin Jiang — fled the country after they were indicted and are believed to be in China.

Five other defendants have reached plea agreements with prosecutors and could be sentenced as early as Friday.

The East Bay Times reports former workers at the restaurants say they were housed in racially segregated dorms, bused to work, forced to work 12-hour shifts six days a week and were paid less than $6 an hour.

The report says prosecutors allege the restaurant owners stole $4.5 million in wages between 2009 and 2013, and avoided paying another $2 million in state taxes. No additional details about the work comp fraud charges were provided.