Squirrel Hill restaurant Sun Penang and its owner were federally indicted by a grand jury today on charges that its workers were asked to forfeit back pay or work for no pay, according to a release from the U.S. attorney's office.

U.S. attorney David Hickton alleges that Hsiao Yen Wu, 40, who also goes by the alias Sophia Wu, had agreed to pay back wages to her employees and provided information and copied checks to the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Office in Pittsburgh in order to show authorities that she was in compliance.

Federal authorities say Ms. Wu then ordered her employees to deposit their checks into her personal account or to work without pay until the restaurant recouped the backpay.

The indictment also alleges that Sun Penang, located at 5829 Forbes Ave., did not pay its workers minimum wage or overtime pay during a one-year period from Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2013.

In the three-count indictment, Ms. Wu is charged with falsifying, concealing or covering up by trick, scheme or device a material fact. It charges Sun Penang with willfully violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The indictment was returned Tuesday, but unsealed today.

“All employees working in Western Pennsylvania deserve to be treated fairly under the law,” Mr. Hickton said in the release. “Prosecutions like these demonstrate our commitment to stopping wage and hour abuses in the workforce.”

First Published: April 21, 2016, 9:36 p.m.