O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do (right) with Viet America Society founder Peter Pham (left) in a video posted by Do’s official YouTube account.
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Supervisor Andrew Do, screenshot via YouTube
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Topline:
Federal prosecutors have indicted the founder of a discredited Orange County nonprofit on charges that he bribed an elected Orange County supervisor and then "pocketed" most of the $12 million in pandemic relief money gained under the contract.
What we know: The charges against Peter Anh Pham, announced Friday, go directly to the corruption in Orange County originally uncovered by an LAist investigation. Authorities described Pham, a 65-year-old Garden Grove resident, as a "fugitive from justice."
Keep reading... for more on this developing story.
Federal prosecutors on Friday announced the indictment of the founder of a discredited Orange County nonprofit. Peter Anh Pham faces charges that he bribed an elected Orange County supervisor and then "pocketed" most of the $12 million in pandemic relief money gained under the contract.
The charges against Pham, announced Friday, go directly to the corruption in Orange County originally uncovered by an LAist investigation. Authorities described Pham, a 65-year-old Garden Grove resident, as a "fugitive from justice."
Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office, said Pham left the U.S. on a one-way ticket to Taipei, Taiwan in December 2024. McEvoy said he had no knowledge of Pham leaving the island nation since departing the U.S.
Pham's nonprofit, Viet America Society, hired the daughter of now-former Supervisor Andrew Do as a top official. Do is scheduled to be sentenced to prison on Monday after pleading guilty to a federal bribery charge tied to contracts he helped direct to Pham's nonprofit while his daughter Rhiannon Do worked there.
Pham faces 15 counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and bribery. Prosecutors describe him as "a friend and associate" of Andrew Do.
“Today’s indictments are another critical step in ensuring accountability — and consequences — for those who conspired to use the County of Orange’s COVID-19 funds as their personal ATMs," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a news release, adding that the goal is to "return those stolen funds to their rightful owners — the community for which these funds were originally intended.”
Another person, Thanh Huong Nguyen, 61, of Santa Ana, was also charged. She's scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Santa Ana on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of concealment money laundering. Nguyen could face up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors allege that Pham "and associate" had county funds issued to a Westminster-based company called D Air Conditioning Co. LLC.
"This company then issued checks from its corporate bank account to Pham, Pham’s associate, and one of Do’s daughters," according to authorities. In all, they allege Pham and Nguyen "unlawfully acquired approximately $12 million in county funds through this conspiracy."
LAist is attempting to reach out to Pham and Nguyen for response.
Do's former colleagues on the Orange County Board of Supervisors all applauded Friday's indictment news.
"Finally." That was Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley's response.
In an email statement, Foley summed up the complex scheme to defraud taxpayers and then mislead those who asked tough questions, and the roles that she said Do and Pham played together: “Andrew Do would not have been able to orchestrate the theft of $12 million in taxpayer dollars without Peter Pham, who knowingly accepted funds meant for vulnerable seniors and those facing food insecurity as a means to get rich quick and launder money back to Mr. Do and his daughter Rhiannon Do.”
She added: “Pham and Do added insult to injury by using deceptive marketing and promotional videos to mask their crimes and deceive the public. Finally, the co-conspirators involved in this orchestrated scam to steal from taxpayers will be held accountable.”
Fellow Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who now holds the seat that Do relinquished when he stepped down in disgrace, said, “I'm actually very happy that it's coming to an end and that they're finally getting all these individuals, but we do know though there's more out there. ... We're looking forward and hoping that more and more will come out of this and that all those who are part of it will be held fully accountable.”
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento also said he was "glad to learn that charges have been filed against other parties involved in the bribery and corruption scheme, and it’s my hope that others involved will face justice and be stripped of monies they made at the expense of low income senior residents."
He added that "co-conspirators, enablers and those that aided and abetted must be found, prosecuted and made to reimburse the county residents. Law enforcement must pursue these white collar criminals with as much vigor as they do with low level offenders."
We will have more on this developing story. LAist's Jill Replogle and Yusra Farzan also contributed to this report.
Read the indictment
Catch up on the investigation
In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered public records showing more than $13 million in public money that was approved to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties.
Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.
Since LAist started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group was two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately.
And LAist found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist.
After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned the nonprofit that it could be forced to repay the funds.
And, LAist found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
On Aug. 2, LAist reported O.C. officials were demanding the refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
Six days later, LAist reported Orange County officials had expanded demands for refunds of millions in tax dollars from the nonprofits and threatened legal action.
Then, on Aug. 19, LAist reported O.C. officials had announced a second lawsuit against Hand to Hand and its CEO to recover millions of taxpayer dollars that were directed by Supervisor Do.
LAist broke the news on Aug. 22 that federal agents were searching Rhiannon Do's home in Tustin. Later that day, Supervisor Do's home, and other properties, were also raided.
Six days later, federal prosecutors announced Andrew Do had agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. They said Do accepted over $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID funds to VAS. He resigned as supervisor the same day.
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