Born in Taiwan, Trie emigrated to the U.S. in 1974. He eventually became an American citizen and co-owner of a restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas. The 1997 special investigation describes Trie as having attempted to develop an international trading business (Daihatsu International Trading Corporation), having maintained or accessed accounts in Little Rock and Washington, D.C. into which Macau-based real estate businessman Ng Lap Seng wired >$1M USD from Macau and Hong Kong accounts, and as having never succeeded in the trading business (based on bank and tax records indicating substantive income only from Ng).