Feds say liability inspector accepted bribes and pleads guilty to conspiracy charges

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do has agreed to resign and plead guilty to accepting more than $550,000 in bribes to funnel multimillion-dollar pandemic relief funds to a nonprofit affiliated with his daughter, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Federal officials Once an emerging and influential figure in Orange County politics, federal officials said Tuesday that Do, 62, agreed to plead guilty to one count of bribery conspiracy and agreed to step down as county supervisor in in connection with part of the settlement reached with federal authorities.

“This money was intended to provide meals to the most vulnerable members of our community,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said during a news conference Tuesday. “The scheme essentially acted like Robin Hood in reverse.”

The statement was the culmination of a scandal that began to unfold for the Orange County power broker last year, when LAist reported that Do recommended or voted to donate as much as $13.5 million to the Viet America Society without disclosing that his daughter was associated with the group.

In the following months, the county demanded a refund from the Vietnamese American Society after it launched an audit to investigate the nonprofit organization. The county filed a lawsuit against the Viet America Society in August and condemned Do in September. Last week, Do’s chief of staff resigned after it was reported that his girlfriend worked for a nonprofit that received a lucrative contract with the county.

In the lawsuit, the county accuses the director of the Viet America Society of “brazenly” plundering taxpayer money intended to feed needy seniors during the pandemic.

Among the directors named in the lawsuit was Do’s daughter, Rhiannon.

In early August, the county demanded a $2.2 million refund from the Vietnamese American Society after the organization failed to prove to auditors and the county how it spent the money or that it did the work it was hired to do.

In his plea agreement, Do admitted receiving more than $550,000 in bribes between 2020 and 2023 and, in return, voted and directed the donation of millions of dollars in state and federal Covid-19 funds to the Viet America Society, a charity that was supposed to deliver meals to the elderly and those in need.

But Do did not reveal the group’s connection to his daughter.

“While millions of Americans were dying from Covid-19, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was the epitome of the fox in the henhouse, raiding millions in federal pandemic relief funds and marshalling money meant to feed elderly and sick residents to instead line the pockets of those in the know, yourself and your loved ones, all while taking on the public persona of a hometown hero leading his constituents through the uncertainty and fear of a global pandemic,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, whose office worked with investigators on the case federal, in a statement. “No one is above the law in Orange County, and these allegations should serve as a powerful warning to elected officials everywhere that actions have consequences and justice will come swiftly and decisively.”

Do also admitted to giving $381,000 in funds to buy a home in Tustin and $100,000 to his daughter.

Officials said Do agreed to forfeit all assets from the bribery scheme, including a home in Tustin.

So far, government officials have seized more than $2.4 million, federal officials say.