OC Supervisor Andrew Do charged with corruption by federal prosecutors

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is facing federal corruption charges — something federal officials say he is prepared to plead guilty to.

He also agreed to resign from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Do was arraigned Tuesday morning by the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Ronald Reagan Courthouse in Santa Ana.

At a news conference Tuesday morning at the Ronald Reagan Courthouse in Santa Ana, the U.S. attorney’s office said Do was charged with and agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

“Mr. Make sure the money goes to this group,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Tuesday. “Of the $9.3 million sent to the Viet America Society, only 15% was used for that purpose. The rest was stolen and used for bribes.”

“As a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Mr. Do had great authority,” Estrada said, adding that he did not reveal that his daughter worked there.

He also said Do and his family received $700,000 from the COVID rescue funds.

Estrada said Do could face a maximum of five years in prison.

“He threw it all away to enrich himself and his family,” Estrada said. “He also agreed today to resign from the Orange County Board of Supervisors.”

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzter echoed some of Estrada’s comments.

“We have the largest population of Vietnamese Americans living outside of the country of Vietnam in Orange County,” Spitzer said. “It’s a stand-up community and Mr. Do emerged from the flames of Saigon to become a community leader. He completely betrayed that trust and that is why we are here today.”

Do’s attorney, Paul Meyer, said it was too early to comment on the situation.

“Out of respect for the legal process, no statement is appropriate at this time. However, it is appropriate to convey Andrew Do’s sincere apologies and deep sadness to his family, to his constituents in District One, and to his colleagues,” Meyer said in an emailed statement.

The charges come after Do’s home was raided by the FBI in August.

It also comes after district attorneys sued his daughter and the nonprofit she helped run — Viet America Society — in civil court, accusing nonprofit officials of embezzling millions of taxpayer money and buying homes, including one for Do’s daughter.

(Read: Orange County Sues County Supervisor’s Daughter and Nonprofit for Missing COVID Money)

“Defendants saw the opportunity and conspired to embezzle pandemic relief funds by executing contracts they never intended to execute,” county attorneys wrote in their complaint filed in August.

A series of records show Do continued to send money to the nonprofit even after county staff started raising red flags and approved more than $6 million in contracts with them through his discretionary funds.

(Read: OC personnel had early concerns about the Viet America Society contract in which FBI raids took place)

Do had refused to resign after the raid, despite a weeks-long campaign by fellow supervisors, city council members and the public demanding he step aside after his colleagues criticized him.

(Read: OC Supervisors Censor Colleague Under Federal Investigation)

Do’s plea deal caps a nearly two-decade stint in local politics during which his conduct was repeatedly investigated.

Last November, Do failed to disclose that his wife was a judge when he was called to speak as a witness at a trial, prompting a controversial mistrial.

Last year, he resigned his seat on the board of CalOptima, the public health plan for Orange County’s poor, amid a state audit of executive pay increases and other hiring practices that raised questions about a program he was involved with.

(Read: Top official resigns from OC’s health plan for the poor after revelations about state investigation)

In 2022, he was fined $12,000 by government regulators for trying to steer public lobbying contracts to his campaign donors.

(Read: Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do Gets $12,000 State Fine Over ‘Pay to Play’ Policy)

For years, Do has faced questions about whether he lives in the district he represents, questions that are now resurfacing after federal agents raided a home he owns outside his district.

(Read: OC supervisor Andrew Do charged again with residency fraud as he runs for re-election)

He also faced investigations from government agencies in 2020 over whether or not he used his campaign accounts to launder money, but he was later acquitted because there was insufficient evidence that he broke the law.

(Read: State launches money laundering investigation into Andrew Do and OC Republican Party)

State leaders also passed new rules banning elected officials from sending taxpayer-funded mailers with their names on them 60 days before the election, after Do spent $1.2 million on mailers in 2016 to voters in his district, where state supervisors had not filed any charges against him.

(Read(The state will not pursue enforcement of Do’s 1.2 million taxpayer-funded mailers)

That investigation also came as there were questions about how Brian Probolsky, Do’s then-chief of staff, worked full-time on the supervisor’s re-election campaign while receiving a provincial salary.

(Read: Ethics experts ask questions about campaign work by supervisor’s top assistant)

Do was also investigated by the district attorney’s office in 2017, but no charges were ever filed, according to a legal complaint from a former district attorney at the time.

(Read: Former top DA investigator seeks data on Pulido, Do and Nguyen probes)

Before his time on the Board of Supervisors, Do served on the Garden Grove City Council, but resigned in 2011 amid questions about whether or not he lived in the city.

(Read: Santana: OC Supervisor Andrew Do’s political journey that ended in FBI raids)

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OC Supervisor Andrew Do charged with corruption by federal prosecutors

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