Orange County supervisors approve outside audit of county contracts after Andrew Do scandal

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to move ahead with hiring an outside firm to conduct a forensic audit of all contracts executed by four agencies in response to the Andrew Do corruption scandal.

The audit will cover contracts through the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency that were established between January 2019 and August 2024.

The move comes after Do resigned from the board last month shortly after federal prosecutors said the longtime elected official had agreed to plead guilty in a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars meant to feed needy seniors. Since last November, LAist has uncovered how Do directed county contracts and millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), linked to his daughter, Rhiannon Do. The money was meant to feed seniors during the pandemic and to build a Vietnam War memorial. Federal prosecutors say just 15% of the money earmarked for meals was actually used for that purpose.

The audit was approved Tuesday on a 3-1 vote. The audit firm will be required to present their findings at a public forum or a Board of Supervisors meeting.

The audit, however, will be more limited in scope to what Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento first called for: an “independent third-party forensic audit” of all contracts “directed or influenced” by Do.

Board Chairman Don Wagner voted against the audit.

The supervisors also voted on a policy document that affirmed they will adhere to “transparent and ethical contracting.” If the supervisors do not adhere to the policy, they could face censure or be referred for criminal prosecution. County employees who do not follow guidelines in contracting could also be subject to “training, loss of procurement license, and/or disciplinary action.”

Meanwhile, contractors who violate the terms of agreements with the county could face “contract termination, restitution requests, and other legal remedies.”

“You can't legislate good conduct, but you can certainly create checks and balances and better guardrails,” Sarmiento said of the external audit on Tuesday.

Details of the audit

Aggie Alonso, the director of internal audit at the county, told supervisors it could take four to five months to find an outside firm at a cost of around $2 million.

Sarminento said the external audit will “make sure that we've covered all gaps, made sure that the work that's been done by our internal audit team is credible, is strong, and is something that we can confidently move forward with and demonstrate to the public.”

Other oversight reforms

Since LAist began reporting on Do, the county has passed other reforms.

County officials are reviewing contracts funded by federal COVID dollars after Orange County supervisors directed them to do so in September. They were given 90 days to come back with their findings.

Supervisors also voted in September to update the current contract policy manual to bring the county in line with AB 3130, a new bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom that will require county supervisors across the state to disclose any family ties they have to a nonprofit’s employees or officers before awarding contracts. The new law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and was inspired by LAist’s reporting.

Another bill signed into law by Newsom, AB-2946, will require a majority vote by the Orange County Board of Supervisors before discretionary funds are awarded to a nonprofit or community group. The supervisors will also be required to post details online of how the money was spent.

And starting in 2026, Senate Bill 1111 will make it a crime in California for elected officials to be involved in awarding government contracts to organizations if they know their child is an officer or director of the vendor, or has at least a 10% ownership stake. State Sen. Dave Min, who introduced the bill, said LAist’s reporting led him to take on the issue.

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: Top OC official helped direct millions to his daughter’s center without disclosing family connection
• 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.
• On Oct. 16, LAist reported that the wife of Supervisor Do's top aide was hired for a $275,000 contract. County officials say the work was never turned in and two days later LAist reported that a court filing confirmed a federal grand jury had been convened and subpoenas issued.
• 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.

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, Nov. 5. 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.