It’s “Robin Hood in reverse,” according to U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, who announced Do’s criminal charges and plea deal during a news conference yesterday.
Prosecutors announced that Andrew Do will resign from his position on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. After vacating his seat, Do will also plead guilty to a federal bribery conspiracy charge—which itself could result in up to five years in prison.
According to investigations by LAist and others, Do funneled a total of $13 million tax dollars, including over $3 million in COVID relief funds, to a non-profit led by his then-22 year-old daughter without disclosing his familial connection. Do’s daughter, who is currently a student at UC Irvine and who “lists no other work experience on LinkedIn aside from a four-month internship this summer at a business law firm,” then purchased a million dollar home. It didn’t take long for county officials to put two and two together.
A newly-filed lawsuit from the county accuses Do and his daughter of “brazenly [plundering] these funds for their own personal gain.” The suit also demands a return of funds after the non-profit organization, Viet America Society (VAS), “suddenly fired auditors and failed to show the county how it spent the money.”
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, who announced the criminal charges and plea deal yesterday, alleges that only 15% of the funds siphoned to the mental health non-profit went to people in need. Estrada is now referring to Do’s conspiracy as “Robin Hood in reverse,” or “stealing from the poor.” Do has acknowledged that he accepted over $550,000 in payments to misappropriate taxpayer funds.
Prior to Do’s resignation, LAist also published a report on a $275,000 contract issued to the nonprofit Mind OC. Supervisor Do told the nonprofit to hire Josie Batres, who was the girlfriend of Do’s Chief of Staff—Chris Wangsaporn. While the county paid the funds, the work was never completed. Bartres and Wangsaporn married one year into the contract. Only two days after the LAist piece was published, Wangsaporn resigned.
His boss went on to do the same five days later.
Do has also faces criticism for his inability to disclose outside income sources.
“State law requires local elected officials to disclose all outside income sources of $500 or more per year, which would include specific clients if they pay the official directly,” reads the LAist report. “For example: When Michelle Steel was a county supervisor, each year she disclosed the names of dozens of clients who paid her husband’s law firm more than $10,000. Do is the only O.C. supervisor making more than $100,000 per year in outside income who did not make more detailed disclosures about who was paying their company.”
Senator Janet Nguyen, who has been running for the OC Board of Supervisors District 1 seat, issued a statement on Twitter/X condemning Do and calling his actions “unfathomable.”
“Today is a sad day for Orange County,” said Nguyen. “Taxpayers have every right to be outraged at the millions of dollars stolen from the public treasury, meant for the neediest in our community… Andrew Do’s guilty plea and resignation means that those involved will be held accountable and the funds returned to taxpayers. The county needs to aggressively seek out wrongdoing with full transparency then reform its operations.”
Do is also facing sharp criticism from his (former) colleagues on the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Katrina Foley said that she is disgusted by the staggering level of corruption, greed, and deception described in the unsealed federal indictment.” Vice Chairman Doug Chaffee added that it is “disheartening to witness a betrayal of public trust by someone in a position of responsibility.”
The corruption charges come off the heels of a particularly tumultuous week for Orange County local politics. Last week, two other candidates—Fullerton’s Scott Markowitz and Rancho Santa Margarita’s Carol Gamble—also pleaded guilty to felony charges (in their case, for falsifying campaign documents) and were deemed ineligible to run for office.
With less than two weeks remaining, one would hope Do’s resignation is the last major political disruption ahead of Election Day.
