The criminal charges and plea deal were announced by U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. Out of $19.3 million that was supposed to feed people, only 15% went to those in need, Estrada said.
Do agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. He accepted more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID-19 funds to Viet America Society, a charity affiliated with his daughter Rhiannon Do.
Do directed and worked together with other Orange County, California employees to approve contracts and payments to VAS. He also admitted to federal authorities that he “acted corruptly and abused his position of trust as a county supervisor.”
“By putting his own interests over those of his constituents, the defendant sold his high office and betrayed the public’s trust,” Estrada said. “Even worse, the money he misappropriated and accepted as bribe payments was taken from those most in need, older adults and disabled residents. Our community deserved much better. Corruption has no place in our politics, and my office will continue to hold accountable officials who cheat the public.”
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said the money Do took “was literally stolen out of the mouths of our most vulnerable residents.”
“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,” Spitzer added. “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, justice will be swift, and it will be decisive.”
Do also admitted to funneling $381,000 of the funds to purchase a home in Tustin, a tony city within the Los Angeles metro area, as well as $100,000 to his daughter.
Tuesday’s announcement was the culmination of a scandal that began unraveling last year after LAist reported that Do directed or voted to direct as much as $13.5 million to VAS without disclosing that his daughter was connected to the group.
Following the report, the county launched an audit into the nonprofit organization and eventually demanded VAS return the money. Orange County filed a lawsuit against VAS in August and, a month later, censured Do. Last week, his chief of staff resigned after reports surfaced that his girlfriend worked for a nonprofit organization that was the recipient of another pricey county contract.
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“Today is a sad day for Orange County,” Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-CA) said in a statement. “Taxpayers have every right to be outraged at the millions of dollars stolen from the public treasury, meant for the neediest in our community. The fact that Supervisor Andrew Do and his family are the beneficiaries of this crime, at the expense of hungry seniors during COVID, is unfathomable.”
