California
Officials stated that District One Supervisor of the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed to plead guilty to a federal felony charge of accepting over $550,000 in bribes.
These bribes were tied to his actions in directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID relief funds to a charity linked to his daughter, Rhiannon Do, according to authorities.
Andrew Hoang Do, 62, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
Do is one of five members on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, overseeing the county’s $9 billion annual budget. As a supervisor, he represents the cities of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma
Los Alamitos, Midway City, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, and Westminster. He has held this position since February 2015.
(News Report a Month Ago)
As part of his plea agreement, Do admits that starting in 2020, he accepted over $550,000 in bribes in exchange for voting in favor of and directing millions of dollars in COVID-related funds to the Viet America Society (VAS), a charity linked to his daughter.
He acknowledged working with other county employees to approve contracts and payments to VAS. Do also admitted to acting corruptly and abusing his position of trust as a county supervisor.
“While millions of Americans were dying from COVID-19, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was the fox in the hen house personified, raiding millions in federal pandemic relief funds and orchestrating the money intended to feed elderly and ailing residents to instead fill the pockets of insiders, himself and his loved ones all while portraying a public persona of a hometown hero guiding his constituents through the uncertainty and fear of a global pandemic,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “No one is above the law in Orange County and these charges should serve as a powerful warning to elected officials everywhere that actions have consequences and justice will be swift and it will be decisive.”
“Elected officials have a responsibility to implement programs and policy that will benefit all the people they serve. Their role is not to squander money, solicit bribes, or to steer funds to organizations or persons, wherein a coordinated effort allows those funds to make their way to family members or friends,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
Shortly after receiving COVID relief funds from the county, which were meant to provide meals for the elderly, VAS paid a business referred to in court documents as “Company #1” more than $100,000 per month from April 2021 to February 2024, totaling about $3.8 million.
In September 2021, VAS increased its payments to Company #1 from $100,000 to $108,000 per month.
Company #1 then began paying Rhiannon Do, Andrew Do’s daughter, $8,000 per month, totaling approximately $224,000 by February 2024.
In his plea agreement, Do admitted that in addition to the $8,000 monthly payments Company #1 made to his daughter, the company also transferred $381,500 to an escrow company in July 2023.
His daughter used this money to purchase a home in Tustin for $1,035,000. The purchase was financed with a mortgage of over $600,000, based on a loan application containing false information and fabricated documents.
In a related diversion agreement attached to Do’s plea deal, his daughter admitted her actions were criminal and violated both federal and state laws.
Do also admitted that the $381,500 his daughter used to buy the Tustin house was a disguised bribe intended for him.
He further acknowledged that an additional $100,000 sent to his other daughter, including three $25,000 checks from Company #2—an air conditioning company paid by VAS—were also bribes intended for him.
Some of the bribed funds funneled to his daughters were used for Do’s direct benefit.
For instance, in 2022, $14,849 was used to pay property taxes on Orange County properties owned by Do and his wife, and approximately $15,000 was used to pay one of Do’s credit card bills.
Do admitted he knew that VAS was not providing all the meals the county had paid for, and much of the funds were misused for insider benefits.
These included purchasing real estate in the names of Do’s daughter and Company #1, bribe payments to both of his daughters, payments to other conspirators, companies affiliated with VAS officers, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals.
Do’s plea agreement requires him to forfeit any assets tied to the bribery scheme, including the Tustin property purchased by his daughter in 2023. His daughter, as part of her related diversion agreement, also agreed to forfeit the Tustin property.
Additionally, Do must pay back the full sum of the bribe money he and his daughters received, and he promised to do so before receiving a sentence. In August 2022, the government seized over $2.4 million from VAS and Company #1’s bank accounts.
In a related agreement with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, attached to Do’s plea agreement, he has agreed to immediately resign from the Board of Supervisors and forfeit any pension credit earned during the bribery conspiracy.
Once he enters his guilty plea, Do could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
This matter was investigated by the FBI, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Office of the Inspector General, the IRS Criminal Investigation, and the United States Department of Education Office of the Inspector General.
Any member of the public who has information related to this or any other public corruption matter in Orange County is encouraged to send information to the FBI’s email tip line at https://tips.fbi.gov and/or to contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565.