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Orange County wants Andrew Do to repay $10 million, much more than prosecutors seek
Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do at the board of supervisors meeting on Nov. 28, 2023
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Nick Gerda
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LAist
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Topline:
In a new twist in the corruption case against former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, Orange County wants the former county supervisor to pay back more than $10 million he steered to a group in exchange for bribes. That amount is far more than what prosecutors are seeking ahead of an upcoming hearing.
What the county wants: The county filed a formal request to the court Friday requesting that Do be ordered to pay more than $10 million in restitution, based on the amounts of COVID relief money he had awarded to the nonprofit Viet America Society. Do has admitted that about $8 million of that money was diverted from feeding needy seniors, and that he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes through the group to his daughters. The restitution would be paid to the county, as the victim.
Orange County 's request: “The county’s entitlement to restitution ... is not limited to the amount that [Do] personally gained through bribes but should be based on the county’s actual losses that was caused by [Do’s] criminal conduct,” an attorney for the county wrote in the request.
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What prosecutors say: Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office disagree with the county’s request. They say there’s not sufficient evidence to prove Do could foresee that the fraud involved money beyond the bribes. Instead, they’re requesting that the restitution be set at $878,230.80 — almost all of it being the bribe money they say Do received through his daughters. That restitution would be in addition to the $2.4 million in money and two properties forfeited last month, including a home Do’s daughter Rhiannon Do bought in unincorporated Tustin, and a commercial property purchased by a company linked to the scheme.
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What Do says: Do’s lawyers are asking the judge to reduce the amount he owes to $802,692 to account for work they say Rhiannon Do performed for one of the organizations that received county funds. One of Do’s criminal defense attorneys, Paul Meyer, declined to comment about the county’s request for $10 million, saying it would be inappropriate to comment before the hearing.
What’s next: Judge James V. Selna has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 11 to discuss restitution. Do has to report to federal prison four days later to start serving a five-year term. Federal prisoners typically serve at least 85% of their sentence — in Do’s case, four years. The county also has an ongoing civil lawsuit seeking repayment of funds from the scheme, though the suit is expected to take much longer to reach a decision than the criminal restitution.
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