{"id":59067,"date":"2025-06-06T16:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59067"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T23:03:07","slug":"founder-of-oc-nonprofit-indicted-in-12m-covid-relief-bribery-schem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=59067","title":{"rendered":"Founder of OC Nonprofit Indicted in $12M COVID-Relief Bribery Schem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"505\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"205\">SANTA ANA, Calif.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"505\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png\" alt=\"FBI Latest Hate Crime Report: Hate Crimes Down Slightly in America\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png 636w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>Federal prosecutors have indicted Peter Anh Pham, 65, founder of the now-defunct nonprofit Viet America Society, in a 15-count indictment alleging he bribed former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do to funnel $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds into his own pockets. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"184\" data-end=\"505\" data-speechifyplaybackhighlighter-highlight=\"true\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Pham is currently a fugitive, officials announced Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"507\" data-end=\"684\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Also charged is Thanh Huong Nguyen, 61, of Santa Ana, who faces wire fraud and money laundering charges for her role in the scheme through her organization, Hand-to-Hand Relief.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"686\" data-end=\"1017\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">According to the indictment, from 2020 to 2024, Do used his position to steer pandemic funds to Pham and Nguyen\u2019s groups. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"686\" data-end=\"1017\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-30975 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Orange-County-DA-e1548477394964-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Orange-County-DA-e1548477394964-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Orange-County-DA-e1548477394964-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Orange-County-DA-e1548477394964.jpg 956w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In return, Pham funneled bribes to Do via payments to his daughters. The nonprofit leaders then laundered most of the money through shell entities, using it to pay off personal debts, cover rent, and even purchase real estate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1019\" data-end=\"1238\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Do, who resigned in October 2024, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and is awaiting sentencing. His former chief of staff also allegedly helped manipulate contracts and reporting to benefit Pham and Nguyen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1240\" data-end=\"1436\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">Investigators say the nonprofits submitted falsified invoices and routed public funds through a fake air conditioning company to conceal the theft. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1240\" data-end=\"1436\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">In total, about $12 million was misappropriated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"1438\" data-end=\"1586\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">If convicted, Pham and Nguyen each face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and money laundering. Pham faces an additional 10 years for bribery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\" title=\"\" data-start=\"1588\" data-end=\"1666\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\">The case is being investigated by the FBI, IRS, and Orange County DA\u2019s Office.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SANTA ANA, Calif.\u00a0 Federal prosecutors have indicted Peter Anh Pham, 65, founder of the now-defunct nonprofit Viet America Society, in a 15-count indictment alleging he bribed former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - 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