OC supervisor Andrew Do is charged with corruption by federal prosecutors

Orange County Executive Andrew Do faces federal corruption charges — federal officials say he has agreed to plead guilty.

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.

During a news conference Tuesday morning at the Ronald Reagan Courthouse in Santa Ana, the U.S. District Attorney's Office said Do had been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and had agreed to plead guilty to it.

“Mr. “You arranged for the money to go to this group,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said on Tuesday. “Of the $9.3 million sent to the Viet America Society, only 15 were sent % used for this 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 disclose that his daughter worked there.

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

Estrada said Do faces a maximum of five years in prison.

“He threw everything 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 Spitzeter 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 is an upstanding community and Mr. Do has emerged from the flames of Saigon to become the leader of the community. He completely betrayed that trust and that is why we are here today.”

The charges came after Do's home was raided by the FBI in August.

This also came after district attorneys sued his daughter and the nonprofit she helped run – the Viet America Society – in civil court. They accused nonprofit officials of embezzling millions of taxpayer dollars and buying homes, including one for Do's daughter.

(To read: Orange County sues county executive's daughter and nonprofit over missing COVID money)

“The defendants recognized the opportunity and conspired to embezzle pandemic relief funds by executing contracts they never intended to fulfill,” the district’s attorneys wrote in their lawsuit filed in August.

A series of records show that Do continued to send money to the nonprofit even after county staff began raising red flags, approving contracts with them for more than $6 million from his discretionary funds.

(To read: OC staff raised early concerns about the Viet America Society contract, which included FBI raids)

Do had refused to resign after the raid, despite weeks of campaigning for his resignation by his colleagues, city council members and the public after his colleagues censured him.

(To read: OC supervisors reprimand colleagues in federal investigation)

Do's plea deal caps a nearly two-decade stint in local politics that has seen repeated investigations into his conduct.

Last November, Do concealed the fact that his wife was a judge when he was called as a witness in a trial, leading to a controversial mistrial.

He resigned his seat on the board of CalOptima, the public health plan for Orange County's poor, last year amid a state audit of executive pay raises and other hiring practices that raised questions about a program in which he was involved.

(To read: Top official resigns from OC health insurance plan for the poor after state investigation reveals)

In 2022, he was fined $12,000 by state regulators for attempting to funnel public lobbying contracts to his campaign donors.

(To read: Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do faces $12,000 state fine over 'pay-to-play' policy)

For years, Do has been confronted with the question of whether he even lives in the district he represents. Questions are now circulating again after federal agents searched a home he owns outside his district.

(To read: OC Supervisor Andrew Do will be charged again with official fraud in his re-election bid)

In 2020, he also came under investigation by state authorities into whether or not he used his campaign accounts to launder money. However, he was later acquitted because there was insufficient evidence that he had broken the law.

(To read: State opens money laundering investigation into Andrew Do and OC Republican Party)

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

(To read: State will not pursue enforcement of Do's 1.2 million taxpayer-funded mailers)

That investigation also came as questions arose about how Do's then-chief of staff, Brian Probolsky, worked full-time on the boss's re-election campaign while receiving a county salary.

(To read: Ethics experts question campaign work by top advisor to boss)

Do was also investigated by prosecutors in 2017, but no charges were ever filed, according to a legal complaint filed at the time by a former prosecutor investigator.

(To read: Former top DA investigator seeks records on Pulido, Do and Nguyen investigations)

Prior to his time on the board, Do served on the Garden Grove City Council, but resigned in 2011 amid questions about whether or not he lived in the city.

(To read: Santana: OC Supervisor Andrew Do's Political Journey That Ended in FBI Raids)

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