Southern California county official pleads guilty to bribery charge in COVID funds scheme

Associated Press

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A high-ranking elected official in Southern California’s Orange County has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a far-reaching scheme that misused COVID-19 relief funds that should have been used to feed the elderly.

Andrew Do, a county supervisor who recently resigned his post, entered the plea in federal court in Santa Ana, California, on Thursday under an agreement with federal prosecutors.

Do, 61, apologized to his family and people who depended on him in a statement he read in court.

“I have great sorrow for my actions,” he said.

Authorities said Do took more than half a million dollars in bribes while helping ensure federal COVID-relief funds were channeled to an organization that claimed to be feeding elderly and disabled people. The group, Viet America Society, where Do’s daughter, Rhiannon Do, was listed as an officer, didn’t spend most of the money it received for the meals on providing them, authorities said, adding some of the funds were spent on real estate.

The case comes in a long-running investigation into Viet America Society and as Orange County — which is home to more than 3 million people between Los Angeles and San Diego — filed a civil lawsuit saying the group misused federal funds.

Federal officials said only 15% of more than $9 million funneled to the group went to provide meals. Authorities said the group also received $1 million for a local Vietnam War memorial, which has yet to be completed.

In the investigation, authorities seized more than $2 million. Officials declined to immediately say how the rest of the money received by the group was used.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told reporters after Thursday’s court hearing. Spitzer said authorities were committed to recovering assets obtained in connection with the scheme and returning misused funds to the federal government.

Andrew Do came to the country as a Vietnamese refugee and grew up in Orange County before attending college and law school. He went on to become a prosecutor and city councilmember and later won a seat on Orange County’s five-person board of supervisors representing a cluster of communities, including surf-friendly Huntington Beach.

Do, a Republican, recently resigned from the board. He was already term-limited, and his seat is up for election next week.

Do is scheduled to be sentenced on March 31.

Authorities have said Rhiannon Do is cooperating with the investigation under an agreement with prosecutors and won’t be charged.