The decision comes after an LAist investigation exposed millions in unaccounted-for coronavirus relief funds Do quietly routed to a newly-created nonprofit connected to his daughter, and a federal law enforcement probe of the issue.
Investigation timeline
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Starting in late 2023, Nick Gerda investigated millions in taxpayer funds directed to a nonprofit run off and on by an Orange County supervisor's daughter.
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2023
- Nov. 22: O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do was involved in directing $3.1 million to a mental health center where his 22 year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, was president.
- Dec. 18: Records show missing audits for $4 million in taxpayer funding earmarked to provide meals for seniors and people with disabilities.
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2024
- Jan. 22: County records show Andrew Do directed an additional $6.2 million in taxpayer dollars to his daughter’s group without publicly disclosing the family ties.
- Feb. 16: O.C. officials warn the group could be forced to repay millions in unaccounted for tax dollars.
- March: The group misses a county deadline to provide proof about how funding for meals was spent. It's also suspended from its county-funded hotline work because it failed to turn in overdue administrative documents.
- August: O.C. officials demand a refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Andrew Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand. Days after LAist broke that news, county officials expanded demands for refunds or proof to millions more dollars — and threatened to sue.
- Aug. 15: O.C. sues VAS and five named defendants alleging they'd "brazenly plundered" public funds. The lawsuit says the county had been harmed no less than $10.4 million.
- Aug. 22: FBI agents search multiple locations tied to VAS, including homes owned by Andrew Do and Rhiannon Do.
- Oct. 22: Federal officials announce Andrew Do will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and faces a possible five-year prison term. They said he had accepted more than $550,000 in bribes for directing and voting in favor of more than $10 million in COVID funds to a charity affiliated with his daughter.
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2025
- June 6: Prosecutors announce indictment of Peter Anh Pham 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.
- June 9: Do is sentenced to five years in federal prison.
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Where things stand
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Peter Pham, the founder and president of the Viet America Society, claims Do took advantage of their friendship to set him up in the scandal. -
The complaint by Aloha Financial Investment hints at the legal wrangling to come in the corruption case of the former supervisor that has rocked Orange County.
LAist investigates
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Top OC official helped direct millions to his daughter’s center without disclosing family connectionOver the past year, Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was involved in directing $3.1 million to a mental health center where his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was president.
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It’s the second high-profile instance to emerge recently of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do not disclosing a relevant family relationship during official proceedings.
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Records show the missing audits are for $4 million in taxpayer funding earmarked to provide meals for seniors and people with disabilities.
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County records obtained by LAist show O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do directed an additional $6.2 million in taxpayer dollars to his 22-year-old daughter’s group without publicly disclosing the family ties.
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New county letters obtained by LAist find that a nonprofit led by an O.C. supervisor’s 22-year-old daughter has failed to prove what it did with more than $4 million intended to feed needy residents during the pandemic.
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Orange County officials say they are scrambling to understand what’s happening at a county-funded nonprofit led by O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do’s 22 year-old daughter. The county says the group has failed to account for millions in taxpayer dollars.
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Supervisor Andrew Do directed millions to the group, which was supposed to go toward feeding needy residents. “If they can’t prove then they should pay the money back,” Supervisor Katrina Foley told LAist.
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How did a 22-year-old law student afford a $1 million home at the center of civil fraud allegations?The home is owned by O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, who is among four individuals named as defendants in Orange County’s civil lawsuit alleging embezzlement of millions in public funds. LAist investigated the purchase.
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The nonprofit awarded the $1 million contract by Supervisor Andrew Do has already returned $150,000 to the county. We got documents, and asked builders and architects what they thought of the project mixed up in fraud allegations.
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Chris Wangsaporn, Supervisor Andrew Do's chief of staff, resigned Thursday, effective immediately. LAist reported this week on a $275,000 contract paid out to his then-girlfriend, now wife. County officials said the work was never turned in.
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O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do told a mental health nonprofit based in Irvine to hire the woman, according to multiple people briefed on the contract.
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The contracted work on mental health equity was supposed to be performed by the longtime partner — now wife — of a top aide to disgraced former county Supervisor Andrew Do. County officials cited LAist reporting in their demand for the money to be returned.
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Reaction to LAist reporting
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The audit, which will cover contracts between January 2019 and August 2024, will be more limited in scope than what was first proposed. -
Two of the laws will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, and a third a year later. They increase transparency in how government contracts are awarded.
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"Political corruption is unacceptable," said one lawmaker backing the bill.
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The bill would bar local and state officials from voting on contracts that benefitted close relatives.
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An LAist investigation into Supervisor Andrew Do is creating waves in the Vietnamese American community that helped him win the county's highest office.
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Sarmiento is calling for changes in how Orange County awards contracts after LAist reports that his colleague Andrew Do failed to disclose that his daughter ran a nonprofit that received millions of taxpayer dollars.
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“The public's trust is being eroded by people who abuse the process,” Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento told LAist.
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The ethics proposal deadlocked among O.C. supervisors 2-to-2. O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do, who directed millions to his daughter’s nonprofit without publicly disclosing the connection, was absent for the vote.
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