Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is expected to plead guilty to felony federal corruption charges in connection with accepting bribes in exchange for votes involving COVID-19 relief funds, federal authorities announced on Oct. 22.
Federal and county law enforcement agencies allege that Do, 62, took at least $550,000 in bribes since 2020, for funneling more than $10 million in COVID-19 funds to a charity that employed one of his daughters, Rhiannon Do.
Federal officials claim that the money was meant to pay for meals for elderly residents but instead paid for homes for his daughters.
Do agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.
He resigned on Oct. 22 from his position as county supervisor for the First District, which includes the cities of Garden Grove, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Westminster, and others. Do submitted a one-sentence resignation letter to county officials and the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Don Wagner.
His plea agreement and information were filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles on Oct. 22. Do was expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana later this month.
“Mr. Do had great authority,” U.S. Attorney Marin Estrada said at a press conference on Oct. 22. “When a public official engages in this sort of egregious misconduct, we all lose.”
One of the five-member Orange County Board of Supervisors, Do had served since February 2015.
As part of the plea agreement, Do admitted that he and his family accepted more than $550,000 in bribes beginning in 2020. In exchange, he voted in favor of and directed millions of dollars in COVID-related funds to Viet America Society (VAS), a charity at which his daughter worked, according to Estrada’s office.
Do allegedly directed and collaborated with other county employees to approve contracts with and payments to the society. According to Estrada’s office, he also admitted he acted corruptly and abused his position of trust as a county supervisor.
Federal prosecutors say VAS received COVID-related public funds from the county from April 2021 to February 2024, which were meant to pay for meals for elderly residents. Instead, the society paid an unnamed business $100,000 or more per month, totaling about $3.8 million.
In September 2021, the society increased its payments to the business to $108,000 a month until February 2024.
Federal officials also claim that Do’s daughter used an escrow account funded by $381,500 of the payments to purchase a $1.04 million home in her name in Tustin, California. As part of the transaction, a mortgage for more than $600,000 was obtained by a loan application that contained false information with fabricated documents, according to Estrada’s office.
In her related diversion agreement to Do’s plea agreement, Do’s daughter admitted that her conduct was criminal and violated federal and state law, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Do admitted in the plea agreement that $100,000 in payments sent to his other daughter, including $75,000 from an air-conditioning company paid by VAS, were also bribes for him, according to federal prosecutors.
Estrada’s office claimed that some of the funds funneled to his daughters were spent for Do’s benefit, including about $15,000 in 2022, which was used to make property tax payments for properties he and his wife owned in Orange County. Another $15,000 was used to pay one of Do’s credit card bills.
“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 the while portraying a public persona of a hometown hero guiding his constituents through the uncertainty and fear of a global pandemic,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement on Oct. 22.
Other county supervisors also responded to the Oct. 22 announcement, saying the local investigation continues.
“We are thankful for the thorough and careful investigation carried out by federal law enforcement officials,” Wagner said. “This indictment only speaks to the federal criminal investigation. The County remains committed to continuing its civil lawsuits in order to hold all responsible parties accountable and to recover misused public funds.”
Do’s plea agreement requires him to forfeit any assets connected to the bribery scheme, including the Tustin property his daughter purchased in 2023, a stipulation to which his daughter also agreed.
Do has agreed to pay back the bribe money before he is sentenced, federal authorities said.
In August 2022, the government seized more than $2.4 million from bank accounts owned by VAS and the company it paid using COVID-19 relief funds.
In an agreement with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Do agreed to immediately resign from the Board of Supervisors and forfeit any pension credit for the time he participated in the bribery conspiracy.
Once Do enters his guilty plea, he will face a possible maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
