Orange County officials are suing a nonprofit that received over $10 million in taxpayer dollars, alleging that rather than feeding the elderly, they instead spent the money on houses – including one for Supervisor Andrew Do’s daughter.
Do’s daughter and three other people tied to the nonprofit are also named in the lawsuit.
“Defendants engaged in pervasive self-dealing, pocketing local and federal funds,” county lawyers wrote in the lawsuit filed Thursday afternoon. “Defendants used these funds to finance lavish purchases that included real property and repairs and improvements on such property.”
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the allegations are “extremely serious” in a statement on Thursday evening.
“It appears that public funds intended to help the elderly with meals during the pandemic were fraudulently misappropriated for personal gain,” Sarmiento said. “This clearly smacks of criminal conspiracy.”
The lawsuit comes just days after the nonprofit, the Viet America Society, lost its lawyer shortly after it fired its auditors after they told county staff they couldn’t figure out how the money was spent.
Mark Rosen, the attorney for the nonprofit, initially declined to comment but on Friday morning said the Viet America Society disputed all the charges and plans to fight the lawsuit.
“I think it’s a hatchet job and it’s designed to maximize publicity and there are a lot of facts that are just plain wrong,” Rosen said in an interview with Voice of OC. “The food was cooked, it was delivered, it was packaged, but they weren’t really good about the paperwork at the beginning.”
There’s now calls for state and federal auditors to figure out where the money went.
[Read: Two OC Supervisors Call For State and Federal Investigations of Missing COVID Money]
Supervisor Do did not respond to requests for comment, and his daughter Rhiannon Do is a named defendant in the lawsuit, which alleges she took money from the nonprofit and spent it on buying a house.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham, Do’s wife and Rhiannon’s mother, recently announced she would not seek the top presiding judge job just weeks before her daughter was named in the lawsuit.
[Read: County Supervisor’s Wife Declines To Seek Top Judge Seat Amidst Family Controversy]
The Viet America Society was hired on New Year’s Eve 2020 to start feeding the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic using special funds from the federal government, and eventually accrued nearly $10.4 million in county contracts.
About half of those came directly from Do’s office through his discretionary fund, while the other half were set up by county staff like former Health Care Agency Director Clayton Chau.
Allegations of House Purchases With Taxpayer Money
Rhiannon Do allegedly purchased a house in Tustin with the funds she received while working at the nonprofit that’s worth around $1.2 million according to Redfin.com.
“On or about July 21, 2023, during the term of the Contracts while County contractually transferred funds as payment on invoices now known to be fraudulent, Defendant DO, purchased a property,” reads the lawsuit.
It similarly listed out other alleged house purchases.
Peter Pham, the nonprofit’s CEO, was accused of buying a house in Garden Grove and another in Buena Park, according to the lawsuit.
The two houses are worth a combined $1.8 million, according to Redfin.com.
Dinh Mai, the nonprofit’s secretary, was accused of submitting false invoices alongside Pham and Rhiannon Do and also purchased a house in Fountain Valley that’s worth around $1.2 million, according to Redfin.com.
Thu Thao Thi Vu, owner of Aloha Financial Investment that was allegedly doing business as Perfume River Restaurant & Lounge, was accused of filing invoices to the nonprofit claiming they were preparing food for seniors, but nobody was ever fed, according to the lawsuit.
During the contract period, Vu purchased a house in Fountain Valley worth around $1.5 million, according to Redfin.com.
“In a further effort to conceal their fraud and hide assets of which the County would inevitably seek return, VAS transferred substantial portions of its liquid assets to Defendants PHAM, DO, MAI and ALOHA,” lawyers for the county wrote. “Defendants PHAM, DO, MAI and ALOHA then converted these funds into real property in a further effort to put their illicit gains beyond the reach of the County.”
Do is now facing calls to recuse himself on the issue from fellow Supervisor Katrina Foley, who announced the lawsuit on Thursday evening.
“These allegations show blatant deception and greed by individuals motivated solely to enrich themselves,” Foley said. “The lawsuit filed by the County of Orange highlights rampant abuse of taxpayer funds to enrich well-connected insiders.”
When asked if she thought he should resign, Foley pointed out he was not named in the suit and said “we will see how the case proceeds.”
Foley and Sarmiento’s concerns were echoed by Supervisor Doug Chaffee and Supervisor Don Wagner.
“This is an unconscionable breach of trust and a gross misuse of public resources,” Chaffee wrote in a statement. “I have supported a thorough, and transparent investigation into this matter, and I welcome any state and federal investigation with full accountability.”
“The county does not take this action lightly,” Wagner said in an evening statement. “We will not let stand the abuses outlined in the complaint. Orange County taxpayers deserve their money back.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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