The Brief

An Orange County businessperson, who is among four people accused in a civil lawsuit filed by county officials accusing them of plundering public funds, played a role in the million-dollar home purchase last year by O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do’s then 22-year-old daughter, according to escrow and land deed records reviewed by LAist.

Federal agents searched Rhiannon Do’s home in unincorporated Tustin last month — as well as the businessperson’s home and a nearby house owned by Supervisor Do and his wife, O.C. Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham.

Those searches came a few days after the county filed a lawsuit alleging the businessperson, Thu Thao Thi Vu, conspired with the supervisor’s daughter Rhiannon Do and others to embezzle millions of taxpayer dollars meant to feed needy seniors.

Those public funds were directed by Supervisor Do to Viet America Society (VAS), a nonprofit that numerous public records show his daughter Rhiannon Do helped lead. LAist has uncovered more than $13 million directed by Supervisor Do to VAS.

The nonprofit’s attorney has denied the allegations. Rhiannon Do’s attorney, Dave Wiechert, told LAist Thursday that he was getting ready for a court appearance and would not have time to comment. VAS’ attorney, Mark Rosen, did not respond to a phone call and text message requesting comment.

Law enforcement officials taking materials from the home owned by Rhiannon Do, Aug. 22, 2024.

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Jason Armond

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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In the suit, the county alleges the nonprofit’s leaders “brazenly plundered” the meal funds to instead buy homes for themselves, including the one Rhiannon Do purchased in unincorporated Tustin. And the county alleges much of the money was routed through Vu’s company, Aloha Financial Investment, to “conceal their fraud and hide assets.”

LAist obtained and analyzed public records that showed most of the $3.2 million in meal money that the county paid VAS in 2021 and 2022 was routed to Perfume River, a restaurant in Westminster owned by Aloha.

Since early April, LAist has made multiple inquiries with county officials about that flow of meal money. County officials said they could not explain what the money was used for because they were waiting on long-overdue audits and financial records from VAS. In July, county officials made a formal demand for money to be returned and called the payments to Perfume River “questionable and unexplained.”

Vu’s connection to Rhiannon Do’s purchase of the $1.035 million home is not clear. In the official record of the home’s sale filed with the county, the county recorder is instructed to send a copy of the grant deed to Vu. Real estate experts consulted by LAist said people listed in those instructions typically are involved in the transaction in some way.

What the records show

Vu has not responded to multiple requests for comment from LAist. In April, Rhiannon Do told LAist that Vu’s only involvement in the sale was to refer the home to her after deciding not to buy it herself. Escrow records, recently obtained by LAist from the seller, and interviews with people involved in the sale, differ from Rhiannon Do’s account.

An amendment to the purchase agreement, signed by Rhiannon Do and Vu on July 3, 2023, adds Vu as a co-buyer of the home. That record notes that it was adding Vu as a buyer to the original agreement executed on June 22, 2023.

Vu is removed as a co-buyer in another amendment on July 11, 2023, signed by Rhiannon Do.

Then, on July 25, 2023, Vu’s home address in Fountain Valley is listed in the seller’s estimated closing statement as the address of the home buyer, Rhiannon Do.

Vu’s Fountain Valley home, which public records show VAS’ president Peter Pham has used as the address for his businesses, was among at least five locations connected to VAS leaders that were searched by federal agents on Aug. 22.

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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To purchase the Tustin house, Rhiannon Do took out a $621,000 mortgage, according to a public mortgage record called a deed of trust. The gap between that amount and the purchase price suggests her down payment totaled $414,000.

The mortgage was taken out solely in Rhiannon Do’s name, for 30 years at a fixed rate, according to the public mortgage document. The interest rate was not disclosed.

The escrow documents are not in publicly-accessible records. LAist obtained copies from the home’s seller, Valerie Kemp. She said she shared the documents after learning of LAist’s investigation and the county’s fraud allegations tied to the purchase of several homes, including the one she sold Rhiannon Do.

That first deposit for the purchase — about $31,000 — lists both Vu and Rhiannon Do as the buyers, while stating the funds were from Rhiannon Do. That’s a wire transfer to the escrow company documented in a receipt dated July 7, 2023.

Another link between Aloha and Rhiannon’s home purchase

Email records, which LAist obtained this month from the city of Santa Ana through a public records request, show another connection between Vu’s company and Rhiannon Do’s home purchase.

Those emails discuss a property Aloha purchased on 17th Street in Santa Ana last year. The county alleges in its lawsuit it was purchased using illegally diverted taxpayer money.

The emails show that at the same time the purchase of Rhiannon Do’s home was moving forward, her real estate agent was contacting Santa Ana city officials on behalf of Aloha, the company led by Vu. The agent, in the emails, described Vu and Peter Pham as the owners of the 17th Street property. Official property records show the company, Aloha, as the owner.

A vacant building purchased by Aloha Financial Investment on 17th Street in Santa Ana.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Reached by phone a month ago, the agent — Phillip Vu Nguyen of HPT Realty & Finance — said he would look into LAist’s questions about Vu’s role in Rhiannon Do’s home purchase. He has not responded to multiple follow up calls and texts for comment.

The down payment and mortgage

Rhiannon Do is a third-year law student at UC Irvine. At the time that she purchased the home in late July 2023, her resume shows her interning that summer at a law firm and working as president of Warner Wellness Center, the mental health arm of VAS.

LAist researched the average interest rate at the time Rhiannon Do obtained the 30-year mortgage on the Tustin house. At that rate, the mortgage payment, property taxes and insurance would come out to about $5,000, according to a mortgage calculator and the tax rate for the property. A real estate expert said LAist used the correct approach to estimating the home’s monthly cost at that interest rate.

Her lender — Emet Mortgage — requires borrowers to earn about twice as much in monthly income as the monthly cost of the mortgage, property taxes and insurance, according to its website. That type of requirement is standard for American home loans, under federal rules that govern most U.S. mortgages.

Billing records obtained by LAist show that during the month Rhiannon Do bought the house, VAS charged the county for 173 hours of Rhiannon Do’s time on a mental health contract, which averages around 40 hours per week. That month, VAS paid her $4,615 before taxes, according to county records.

That accounts for less than half the earnings that appear to have been required by the income requirements listed on her lender’s website for that size mortgage at the time she obtained it.

Her work for VAS was the only job she cited to LAist when asked how she afforded the home, besides the summer internship.

Rhiannon Do has not responded to LAist’s follow-up questions asking how she qualified for the mortgage or afforded to purchase and maintain the monthly mortgage costs.

Details of Rhiannon Do’s response to LAist

On April 1, LAist sent Rhiannon Do an email asking a series of questions:

• Why was $400,000 in county meals money apparently routed through VAS to a mental health business she was an officer of?
• How did she qualify for the mortgage?
• Why was Vu’s name on the grant deed?
• And how much of the home purchase, if any, was financed by the taxpayer money her father sent VAS?

She did not answer those questions, and wrote back calling them part of a “false narrative.”

LAist asked again.

On April 4, she replied saying she didn’t know why Vu’s name was on the deed, but that Vu referred her to the home after deciding not to buy it.

“Ms. Vu found the house first. She dealt with the listing agent until she decided not to buy the house and referred it to me,” she wrote. “I don't know why Ms. Vu's name was included to receive a copy even though I was clearly listed as the sole buyer in the body of the Grant Deed, other than the fact that the Grant Deed contained many mistakes.”

She then gave examples of the other mistakes she referred to.

“For example, the Grant Deed misidentified the property as not being in the City of Tustin, and it listed Ms. Vu’s address as the address of the house I was purchasing where Ms. Vu did not and does not reside,” she wrote.

An LAist review found otherwise: The grant deed correctly noted the home is in an unincorporated area. That’s according to official county maps. And the deed did not state Vu’s address as the home Rhiannon Do was purchasing.

[Read all of Rhiannon’s email responses to LAist.]

What the seller and seller’s agent say about the transaction

Rhiannon Do's home in the Tustin area.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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The listing agent says Rhiannon’s account is not accurate.

“I never spoke with [Vu], and I never dealt with her,” said Michelle Vaughn, who represented the sellers in the transaction and told LAist she was the only listing agent.

Vaughn said at the time of the transaction, she had no idea Rhiannon Do was the daughter of Supervisor Do and Cheri Pham, a high-ranking O.C. Superior Court judge.

Valerie Kemp — along with her husband — sold the home to Rhiannon Do. Kemp also told LAist that at the time of the sale, she didn’t know at the time who Rhiannon Do’s parents were.

Kemp told LAist she and her husband had moved out of state before selling the home, and didn’t interact directly with the buyer.

Nothing during the sale process raised any concerns, Kemp added.

Kemp said she was shocked and angry when she learned of Orange County’s corruption allegations that now include the home.

“I appreciate whoever looked at this and saw it and said this needs to be looked into,” she said.

Real estate experts on the transaction 

Real estate expert Robert S. Griswold told LAist the home’s recorded mortgage and Rhiannon Do’s known income don’t add up.

“There’s plenty of sad stories about people paying 50 or 60% of their income for housing,” said Griswold, the co-author of Home Buying Kit for Dummies and Real Estate Investing for Dummies. “But not 112%. It doesn’t work.”

He and another real estate expert said the place Vu is listed on the grant deed — where there’s instructions to mail a copy to her and Rhiannon Do after it’s recorded — indicates some connection between people listed there and a property transaction.

What’s next? 

Rhiannon Do’s father, Supervisor Do, has faced increasing calls to resign from his elected position. That includes calls from two of his four colleagues on the Board of Supervisors and six of the seven city council members in Huntington Beach, the largest city in his district. He’s given no public indication he’s considering doing so.

He has stopped attending county supervisor meetings.

The empty seat of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do who was not in attendance for the Aug. 27, 2024 Board of Supervisors meeting.

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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His four fellow supervisors unanimously voted earlier this month to strip Supervisor Do of all his committee assignments, including to the high-profile governing board of the Orange County Transportation Authority.

This week, all four of his colleagues voted to publicly condemn Supervisor Do with a censure. It cites “reckless judgment and favoritism he has demonstrated in directing millions of dollars” to “organizations with no proven track record,” while not disclosing his family ties. California law at the time did not require disclosure when elected officials award taxpayer money to their adult children.

That will be changing. In response to LAist’s coverage of Supervisor Do’s awarding of funds, new conflict of interest laws were approved unanimously by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The county’s civil fraud lawsuit against Rhiannon Do and other VAS leaders is in early stages, and was transferred to San Diego County Superior Court. A search of the court’s website does not return any responses to the complaint from defendants.

Meanwhile, federal authorities have frozen the bank accounts for VAS, Peter Pham and Perfume River, according to VAS’ attorney.

The investigating agencies — the FBI, the IRS, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office — have declined to discuss next steps or details of their investigation, with the federal prosecutors office citing a court-ordered seal on the case.

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.

• Read the story that launched the investigation here.
• 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.
• On Aug. 15, LAist reported O.C. officials sued VAS and its key officers and associated businesses, including Rhiannon Do. The lawsuit alleges that county money was illegally used to purchase five homes and was converted into cash through ATM transactions. 
• 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.

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The next scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 8. You can check out the O.C. Board of Supervisors full calendar here.
• Learn how to submit a public comment to the O.C. Board of Supervisors.

LAist Senior Reporter Ted Rohrlich contributed to this story.

Top photo caption and credit: Law enforcement searched the Tustin home of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do's 23 year-old daughter Rhiannon Do, on Aug. 22. (Jason Armond Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Alysa Liu’s comeback at this year’s Olympics — and her stunning gold medal win — has rocked the world of figure skating, making headlines due to her joy while performing and her commitment to mental health on and off the ice.

Though she primarily trained in Oakland, Liu, who’s also a psychology student at the UCLA, has used a facility in Lakewood as one of her home bases away from home. The 20-year-old started training there as she came back from retirement and prepared to take the gold medal (not that that was necessarily her goal, to hear her tell it).

It’s part of a long history for the Rinks-Lakewood ICE, which has also hosted many champions and Olympians over the years, including Mariah Bell, Nathan Chen, Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon, and counts prominent figure skaters among their staff.

“ We're not unfamiliar with Olympic ties,” said Braden Overett, the skating manager at Lakewood ICE, though he also clarified, “that does not in any way diminish the fun and the coolness [of Liu’s win].”

Lakewood ICE’s place in this year’s Olympics

Working with her coaches remotely, Liu started to drill down on perfecting her skating while also attending classes at UCLA. And though she moved on to her home base at Oakland Ice Center as the Olympic training started to ramp up, the staff who worked with her at Lakewood ICE kept cheering her on.

Overett said that he loves highlighting the Olympic connections at the rink, which may not be obvious to everyone who skates there.

“It's always fun just to connect the dots, right?” Overett said. “It's like going to a restaurant and then you find out later it's your favorite actor's restaurant.”

Ashleigh Ellis runs the nonprofit Unity Ice Academy, which focuses on increasing access to figure skating for kids of all backgrounds at Lakewood ICE.

“ That's just very much how the skating world is. It's very small, you never know who you're going to run into at any time,” Ellis said. “ Could you imagine just being on the ice with a national champion and Olympic skater of any sort? It's just so inspiring for the kids to see that and be within the vicinity of that.”

And Liu wasn’t the only 2026 Olympic figure skater who's used the facility. Li Yu-Hsiang, the Taiwanese national champion who represented Chinese Taipei in Milan this year, also trains in Lakewood.

The rink’s coaches

The small world of skating means that even novice skaters can take classes from world-class skaters: 1976 Olympic silver medalist Dianne de Leeuw teaches there, as do national medalists (and future Olympic contenders) Starr Andrews and Josephine Lee.

 ”To get to see them and to get to share ice with them just has a layer of magic that you can't replace and you can't get anywhere else,” Overett said. “ You see the turnover of generations, and it brings in a huge element of history.”

What Liu’s win means for the skating world

Ellis is already using Liu’s example to stress the importance of mental health to the kids and families she works with, like one parent who was worrying about her child taking two weeks off skating due to pneumonia.

“I was like, ‘Alysa Liu took two plus years off and she just won the Olympic gold. Do not worry about it this two weeks,’” she said.

A bipartisan bill aimed at protecting pets during disasters has been introduced in Congress, with a Southern California representative citing the rescue efforts of local organizations during last year’s L.A.-area fires.

The PETSAFE Act of 2026 — which stands for Providing Essential Temporary Shelter Assistance For Emergencies — would expand the use of emergency management funds so local governments can plan for evacuations that move animals to safety, as well as provide veterinary care and rescue equipment during disasters.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) helped introduce the bill earlier this month with several House of Representatives colleagues, including Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida and Democrat Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada.

Chu, who represents Pasadena and Altadena in the 28th Congressional District, said when the Eaton Fire tore through her district, many families delayed evacuations because they couldn’t bear to leave their pets behind.

She told LAist she’ll never forget seeing the cats, dogs and other animals with burned feet and singed fur who were being cared for by Pasadena Humane in the aftermath.

“But to think, if there is even one more thing we could do to keep our precious pets safe, wouldn't we want to do that?” Chu said. “So this PETSAFE Act could go a long way towards making sure that our loved pets can indeed survive a disaster.”

About the bill

Pasadena Humane teams looked for pets and wildlife in Eaton burn zones, dropping off food and water along the way.

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Courtesy Pasadena Humane

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The PETSAFE Act now has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The bill would amend the Emergency Management Performance Grant program to increase the federal cost share for certain animal-related preparedness activities from 50% to 90%.

Supporters say this would lower barriers and make it more affordable for communities to roll out emergency protection plans for people and pets.

Specifically, the PETSAFE Act would allow state, local and tribal governments to use grant money awarded by FEMA toward pet supplies, crates, veterinary equipment, emergency generators and training, among others.

Pet owners whose homes are under disaster-related evacuation orders can be faced with an “impossible choice” — leaving their pets behind or staying home with them, which risks the owner’s own safety and complicates rescue efforts for first responders, according to Chu’s office.

The bill aims to address the challenges pet owners and first responders face without authorizing new federal spending, according to Mast’s office.

How we got here 

Chu said local shelters, including Pasadena Humane, and communities across California stepped up to care for all kinds of animals during the Eaton Fire, which ignited in January 2025.

Pasadena Humane helped more than 1,500 pets and wildlife during the fire and in the aftermath by providing shelter, medical care and emergency resources.

A horse was housed in the organization’s garage when Chris Ramon, Pasadena Humane’s president and CEO, ran into its owner walking down Raymond Avenue for miles.

“Part of me likes to think that this won’t happen again,” Ramon told LAist last month. “But the realist in me realizes … disaster preparedness is something that just is an ongoing conversation for us at Pasadena Humane.”

Chu also cited the work of the ASPCA, which helped more than 530 animals during the Eaton Fire, including goats, parakeets, pigs and a gecko, according to the organization.

She said local organizations did “tremendous” work and “lovingly cared for” the rush of animals affected by the fire.

“But what we would want to do is to make sure that there is an even better system for animal evacuation and ways to ensure that pets could be safe,” Chu said, adding that would relieve the burden on places like Pasadena Humane.

Other laws aiming to protect pets

This is not the first time last year’s fires have led to new legislation focused on protecting pets during emergencies.

A new state law known as the FOUND Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, was inspired by Oreo the Pomeranian, who reunited with its Pacific Palisades owner in an emotional, viral video during the Palisades Fire.

The law requires cities and counties to include procedures for rescuing pets during mandatory evacuations in their next emergency plans, which need to be updated every five years to qualify for FEMA assistance.