SANTA ANA — The District 1 supervisor on the Orange County Board of Supervisors has agreed to plead guilty to a felony federal charge for accepting more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID funds to a charity affiliated with one of his daughters, Rhiannon Do, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Andrew Hoang Do, 62, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. His plea agreement and information were filed Oct. 22. He is expected to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana later this month.
Do is one of five members of the Board of Supervisors, which is responsible for the county’s $9 billion annual budget. As a county supervisor, Do represents the cities of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, and Westminster. He has served in that capacity since February 2015.
As part of his plea agreement, Do admitted that in exchange for more than $550,000 in bribes, beginning in 2020, he voted in favor of and directed millions of dollars in COVID-related funds to Viet America Society (VAS), a charity affiliated with his daughter. Do directed and worked together with other county employees to approve contracts with – and payments to – VAS. Do further admitted 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,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “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.”
“While millions of Americans were dying from COVID-19, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was the fox in the henhouse 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.
“Today’s plea is another exclamation point to the FBI’s commitment to ensuring that all local, state, or federal elected and appointed public officials perform their duties with honesty, integrity, and commitment to all the constituents they serve.”
Shortly after receiving the COVID-related public funds from the county government – funds that were intended to provide meals to the elderly – VAS from April 2021 to February 2024 paid a business identified in court documents as “Company #1” $100,000 or more per month, which totaled approximately $3,804,000.
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 by February 2024 approximately $224,000.
In his plea agreement, Do admitted that in addition to the $8,000 monthly payments that Company #1 had made to his daughter in July 2023, Company #1 also transferred a total of $381,500 from the funds it had received from VAS to an escrow company.
In July 2023, Do’s daughter used the escrow account funds to purchase a home, in her name, in Tustin for $1,035,000. As part of that transaction, a mortgage for more than $600,000 was obtained by a loan application that contained false information and with fabricated documents.
In her related diversion agreement attached as an exhibit to Do’s plea agreement, Do’s daughter admitted her conduct was criminal and violated federal and state law.
Do also admitted that the $381,500 from Company #1 that his daughter had used to purchase the Tustin house in 2023 was a disguised bribe to him. He also admitted that an additional $100,000 in payments sent to his other daughter, including three $25,000 checks from Company #2 – an air conditioning company that had been paid by VAS – also were bribes to him.
Some of the bribe funds that had been funneled to his daughters were spent for his direct benefit. For example, during 2022, a total of $14,849 of funds that had been funneled to Do’s daughters was used to make property tax payments for properties in Orange County owned by Do and his wife. Approximately $15,000 was used to pay for one of Do’s credit card bills.
Do knew that VAS was not providing all the meals for which the county had paid VAS. Instead, much of the funds were used for the benefit of insiders, including to buy real estate in the name of both Do’s daughter and Company #1, bribe payments to both of Do’s daughters, payments to other conspirators, payments to other companies affiliated with VAS’s listed officers, and through hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals.
“Mr. Do had a duty to act in the best interest of the citizens of Orange County. He neglected that duty and misused the financial system to enrich himself,” said Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Office of Inspector General. “Public corruption degrades the public’s confidence in our political system, and FDIC OIG is proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable individuals who abuse public service for private gain.”
“Andrew Do was entrusted to ensure taxpayer dollars were used responsibly and for the purposes intended,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Instead, when his constituents depended on COVID relief programs, Mr. Do exploited his position on the Orange County Board of Supervisors not only to influence channeling of funds to the Viet America Society, but also to accept bribes that were used to purchase a home, pay property taxes, and even to pay fictitious incomes to family members.
“Combating public corruption is one of the most important roles federal law enforcement agencies play in our local communities, and we are proud to be a partner during this investigation.”
“Today’s actions shows that this elected official used his position of trust for personal gain. He didn’t think he would get caught. He was wrong,” said Adam Shanedling, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General’s Western Regional Office. “The OIG is proud to have been a part of the task force that investigated this matter and we’ll continue to work with our law enforcement partners to help safeguard the integrity of federal funds.”
The plea agreement requires Do to forfeit any assets connected to the bribery scheme, including the Tustin property his daughter purchased in 2023. As part of his daughter’s related diversion agreement, she also agreed to forfeit the Tustin property.
The plea agreement requires Do to pay full restitution by paying back the bribe money he and his daughters received, which he has agreed to pay in full before he is sentenced. In August 2022, the government seized more than $2.4 million from VAS’s and Company #1’s bank accounts.
In a related agreement with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA), attached as an exhibit to Do’s plea agreement, Do has agreed to immediately resign from the Board of Supervisors and to forfeit any pension credit for the time where he participated in the bribery conspiracy.
Once Do enters his guilty plea, he will face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
The FBI; the Orange County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Office of the Inspector General; IRS Criminal Investigation; and the U.S. Department of Education Office of the Inspector General investigated this matter.
This matter is being jointly prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and OCDA. The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles E. Pell, Bradley E. Marrett, and Tara Vavere of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Senior Deputy District Attorney Avery T. Harrison and Deputy District Attorneys Anthony J. Schlehner and L.J. Berger of the OCDA.
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.