Howard Quoc Trinh, Bribery, California 2016

La Puente Garment Factory Manager Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison

LOS ANGELES – In a shocking case of corporate greed, Howard Quoc Trinh, the 43-year-old general manager of Seven-Bros. Enterprises, a La Puente garment factory, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for offering bribes to a federal labor investigator in exchange for closing an investigation into wage violations.

According to court documents, Trinh was found guilty of two counts of bribery after a federal jury deliberated for just one hour in April 2016. The jury determined that Trinh offered to pay $10,000 in bribes, with $3,000 already paid, to a Department of Labor Wage and Hour investigator to drop the investigation into wage violations at Seven-Bros. The investigation, which was conducted by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Investigator General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, found that the company owed approximately $100,000 to compensate employees for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations from May 2012 through March 10, 2015.

The Labor Department investigator, who was working undercover, met with Trinh on March 18, 2015, at which time Trinh offered the investigator $10,000 to close out the investigation without finding any violations and to lift the hot goods notice. During the meeting, Trinh told the investigator that he wanted a “clean case” with “no violations” and “I would say to you $10,000…in your pocket.”

Trinh followed through on his offer, giving the investigator $3,000 in cash the next day in an unmarked manila envelope. Before handing over the cash, Trinh said “we never met…we never sat at this table…we never had any of this.” Trinh was arrested on March 20, 2015.

Prosecutors described Trinh’s actions as a “complete disregard for the law” and stated that he tried to “buy his way out of trouble” by bribing the Labor Department investigator. Judge Christina A. Snyder ordered Trinh to begin serving his prison sentence by September 6.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julian L. André of the Major Frauds Section.

The investigation into wage violations at Seven-Bros. is a stark reminder of the need for corporate accountability and the importance of protecting workers’ rights. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this story and provide updates as more information becomes available.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Public Corruption

Paula von Luckner, Alleged German Woman Spy, Arrested in New York, 1941

Sep 11, 1941

Public Corruption

Ferguson Police Reckoning

Apr 19, 2016

Public Corruption

Hector Lopez, Bribery of a Public Official, West Virginia 2024

Aug 7, 2025

Public Corruption

Michael Kail, Bribery and Kickbacks, California 2018

Apr 30, 2021