Department spokesman Dean Fryer says that a San Francisco Superior Court judge granted the hold, called a prejudgment writ of attachment, against Anna Wong, Jenny Wong and Jimmy Quan to prevent them from selling eight commercial properties they own in San Francisco and Oakland. The owners will go to trial next year concerning the charges.
In February, California Labor Commissioner Arthur Lujan filed a lawsuit to preserve the commercial assets to pay $840,000 in back pay allegedly owed to at least 239 former employees of Wins of California, Win Industries of America and Win Fashions. The Wongs and Quan were part owners of three clothing businesses and allegedly did not pay their employees for three months.
Wins of California, Win Industries of America and Win Fashions made clothing for numerous large-scale retail outlets including Kmart, JCPenny, Sears, Sam's Club and Mervyn's.
Investigators also uncovered enough evidence to convince the superior court to issue an injunction prohibiting Wins of California from operating. In spite of that injunction and not being properly licensed, Wong continued to manufacture garments until September 2001 when investigators raided Wong's illegal operation again and confiscated 23 bags of clothing.
"Part of what enabled Wong to continue operations was the bond she forged with her Chinese-speaking employees and promises of later wage payments," said Lujan. "However, it soon became clear to employees that they weren't going to be paid and that they should cooperate with investigators acting on their behalf."
Wong's California businesses are now closed. Wins of California and Win Fashions filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, and the courts auctioned off their sewing equipment. Win Industries of America was shut down for failing to carry workers' compensation insurance. Back wages will be distributed to former Wins employees upon resolution of the labor commissioner's lawsuit.
Since then, Wins of California and Win Fashions have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and their sewing equipment have been auctioned off, Fryer says. The properties, however, cannot be touched.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
