Who is who? How to follow the unfolding fraud allegations in Orange County
Last month, FBI and IRS agents searched the family home of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do in North Tustin.
They also searched a nearby home purchased by his 23-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, and the homes of others with close ties to the supervisor and his daughter.
The searches came nine months after LAist first reported county officials were asking serious questions about what happened to millions in taxpayer funds directed by Supervisor Do to a little-known nonprofit.
LAist uncovered more than $13 million in public funds directed by Supervisor Do to Viet America Society (VAS), most awarded outside of public view and without Do disclosing that his daughter worked as a leader there. Most of that money came from federal COVID relief funds earmarked to help people during the pandemic.
The FBI and IRS aren't saying why they searched the properties, citing a court seal on the search warrants. A pair of lawsuits, filed by county officials a few days before the searches, allege Rhiannon Do, and other defendants, "brazenly plundered" public funds to purchase multiple homes in Orange County.
LAist uncovered this story by pouring through thousands of public records. Those records detail a complicated series of large transactions, many of them unexplained, by officials at VAS.
Here's what you need to know to stay on top of the story:
Who is Andrew Do?
First, some background: Supervisor Andrew Do is one of the highest-ranking elected officials in Orange County. He is elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors from District 1, which encompasses cities like Garden Grove and Westminster. The area includes O.C.'s Little Saigon, home of one of the largest Vietnamese populations outside of Vietnam. He represents about 600,000 people.
Supervisor Do took home about $237,000 in pay and benefits for his role as county supervisor in 2023, according to public data on Transparent California's website.
He has served on the board since 2015 and is termed out at the end of the year.
Supervisor Do previously served as a prosecutor at the Orange County District Attorney's office and as a council member in Garden Grove. He was also the first Vietnamese American to serve as board chair of O.C.'s public health insurance agency CalOptima while he was supervisor before he resigned from CalOptima's board in 2023 . His resignation followed a state investigation into hiring and pay practices during his time as chair.
Supervisor Do is married to O.C. Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Cheri Pham. They have two daughters.
After the first LAist stories published late last year, Supervisor Do wrote an op-ed published in the Orange County Register defending himself and disparaging LAist's reporting. Then, on county letterhead, he called on LAist leaders to fire Nick Gerda, our reporter who broke the story. Nick never stopped reporting.
To date, Supervisor Do has not responded to LAist's repeated requests for comment since last November. He has never requested a correction or a retraction.
What is a county supervisor?
The five county supervisors are some of the most powerful people in Orange County, deciding on how to spend about $9 billion each year on key government services like public health, mental health, law enforcement and child protective services.
They also control how much funding goes to local law enforcement agencies — like the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office — and can influence how that money gets spent by those agencies.
Supervisors are elected to four-year terms and they can't serve more than two full terms, which is why Supervisor Do was ineligible to run again this year.
Who is Rhiannon Do?
Rhiannon Do is Supervisor Do's 23-year-old daughter. She is a third-year law student at University of California, Irvine. She graduated from high school four years ago and then earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UC Davis in December 2021. While at UC Davis, she interned at the Steinberg Institute , which advocates for statewide mental health policy changes.
LAist has found at least 10 public records, including contracts she signed and a tax filing, listing Rhiannon Do in top leadership roles at VAS. Last year, she also submitted a resume for an internship at the O.C. District Attorney's office that says she was president and cofounder of Warner Wellness Center, which is a second name used by VAS. In a brief email exchange in April, Rhiannon Do told LAist that she never served as a director or an officer with the group and had no role in VAS' finances.
She did not respond to questions about why the records, some with her signature, show otherwise.
She described her role as limited to mental health services and a different meals program than the one under scrutiny. At the time, a VAS attorney attributed the listings of Rhiannon Do in leadership positions to "sloppiness" and "negligence."
State law does not currently require elected officials to disclose family relationships when awarding taxpayer money to their adult children. It does require disclosure for spouses and minor children. Two state laws inspired by LAist reporting have now been signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to tighten ethics standards , and a third is on his desk. They go into effect Jan. 1.
What is Viet America Society?
Viet America Society is a nonprofit incorporated by Peter Pham in 2020, after the start of the pandemic. In its latest available tax filing, for 2022, the organization's mission is described as "Promoting Vietnamese cultures to the youths. Helping feed the elderly and poor. Provide mental health services to all." The nonprofit has also used the name Warner Wellness Center to do business.
VAS and Warner Wellness Center both had offices in Huntington Beach in the same building as Supervisor Do's private law office. Peter Pham was seen emptying furniture out of the Warner Wellness Center suite on Saturday, according to eyewitnesses and photos provided to LAist. VAS' office suite is now rented to another business.
One of the lawsuits filed last month by Orange County officials alleges more than $13 million in public funds Supervisor Do directed to the nonprofit was "plundered" by four named defendants, Peter Pham, Rhiannon Do, Dinh Mai, VAS' chief financial officer, and Thu Thao Thi Vu — as well as VAS, and Vu's company, Aloha Financial Investment, Inc., among other entities. The lawsuit alleges defendants used the money for private gain, including home purchases. Late last month federal authorities froze the bank accounts of VAS.
VAS' lawyer has disputed the allegations.
What are federal COVID relief dollars?
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was a $1.9 trillion stimulus package intended to boost the American economy as it was devastated by COVID-19 shutdowns. Funds were distributed to state, territorial, local, and tribal governments to support recovery effects.
Local governments like the Orange County Board of Supervisors were able to use that money to offset loss of revenue into public agencies, to address health and economic needs of residents and to improve water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.
What happened to the money Do directed to VAS?
Federal authorities appear to be trying to figure that out.
Just days after the county filed the fraud lawsuits, FBI and IRS agents executed search warrants for multiple properties in Orange County. The properties searched include Rhiannon Do's Tustin home; a North Tustin family home that real estate records show is owned by Cheri Pham and Supervisor Do; a Garden Grove home that public records show is owned by Peter Pham; and a Fountain Valley home that government filings show is the business address for VAS.
Those search warrants remain under seal, according to the latest information from the local U.S. Attorney's Office.
What does a Vietnam war memorial have to do with COVID relief funding?
Good question. Supervisor Andrew Do directed $1 million in federal COVID relief funds to VAS in October 2023 to design, build and maintain a memorial in an Orange County park. That money was at his discretion to award. The agreement, which was attached to the county's lawsuit against VAS, said the federal COVID relief funds being used for the project could "be used, among other things, for non-profit organizations that support veterans, provide infrastructure projects, workforce and economic development, education, and arts-related programs."
LAist has found that work on that site remains incomplete.
O.C. officials in early August demanded VAS refund any money not spent on purposes required by existing county contracts — and then sued on Aug. 15 .
VAS then returned $150,000 of the $1 million, which Mark Rosen, VAS' attorney, said accounted for any unspent remaining funds. That left $850,000 the county paid to VAS for the project, that has not been returned.
An architect who visited the memorial with LAist estimated it cost, at most, $185,000.
LAist took a hard look at why there are starkly different versions of where the memorial stands, and how those public funds to build it were used.
What's next?
Supervisor Do is facing calls from two of his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors — Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento— to resign from his role. Foley and Sarmiento have also called on the state attorney general to intervene and authorize a court case seeking to remove Supervisor Do from power.
Sarmiento also is calling on the board to censure Supervisor Do, a vote is expected at the Sept. 24 board meeting in Santa Ana.
Earlier this month, Supervisor Do's colleagues on the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to remove him from all his committee assignments and his board seat at the Orange County Transportation Authority.
City leaders in Huntington Beach, the largest city in Supervisor Do's district, also called for his resignation , on a 6-1 vote.
What does Do's continued absence mean for County business?
Supervisor Do's office told the interim County CEO last month he would miss the next few meetings.
Agenda items could be delayed to later meeting dates if not enough board members are present for a vote. For most items, at least three supervisors are required to approve an agenda item in the affirmative. Given the makeup of the board, having only four members present means decisions can result in a stalemate, as happened a few weeks ago when Supervisor Do was absent for an affordable housing-related vote.
If Supervisor Do were to resign at this point in his term, supervisors' Chair Don Wagner can appoint someone to replace him. State Sen. Janet Nguyen and Cypress City Councilmember Frances Marquez are in a runoff to replace Supervisor Do in the Nov. 5 election. The winner will be sworn in in December.
LAist's watchdog role in 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, the now 23-year-old daughter of Supervisor 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.
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.
