The raid by law enforcement on Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do’s home and other properties linked to a charity that received $10.4 million in COVID-relief funds followed county allegations the money was used for personal gain, not feeding the elderly – the type of abuse that has triggered federal fraud investigations throughout the nation.
On Thursday, Aug. 22, federal investigators raided Do’s North Tustin home and Huntington Beach office. Agents with the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office also searched other properties related to Viet America Society, including homes purchased by Do’s daughter and the charity’s president. In a civil lawsuit filed last week, the county alleged the money used was looted from a federally funded nutrition gap program.
Since 2021, Department of Justice investigations have produced criminal charges against more than 3,500 defendants who allegedly diverted $1.2 billion. Federal civil actions resulted in more than 400 judgments and settlements with more than $1.4 billion seized or forfeited, according to the DOJ.
Related Articles
Orange County restaurants shut down by health inspectors (Aug. 15-22)
“The School That Works:” Cristo Rey High blends school, corporate internships
Corky: The impulse to be one wave ahead in a crowded lineup
2 students start Laguna Beach High after being told they would have to attend special education program elsewhere
Potential water restrictions at Arrowhead Springs Hotel raise concerns over wildfire danger
Christopher John Badsey of Lake Forest was sentenced Friday to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding companies into paying more than $3 million for COVID-related medical protective equipment that was never delivered.
The IRS announced in late February that it had investigated more than 1,600 “tax and money laundering cases related to COVID fraud potentially totaling $8.9 billion.”
“While COVID may no longer be top of mind to the average American when they wake up, the fraud committed through these different programs is very much top of mind to (the IRS Criminal Investigation group),” Guy Ficco, the unit’s chief, said in a release. “Our special agents continue to seek out fraudsters who stole money from government loan programs for their personal gain.”
Starting early in the pandemic, governments were given huge amounts of relief money to use quickly to help sinking businesses, unemployed workers, struggling renters and the elderly and disadvantaged at the height of the pandemic.
“While these relief programs helped to mitigate some of the pandemic’s most devastating effects, they also came with a cost,” said a report this year by the federal COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. “As has become increasingly clear in the months and years since the pandemic’s peak, many of these programs were targeted by fraudsters and other criminals who sought to exploit the government’s relief efforts for their personal gain.”
Between 2020 and 2021, Orange County received more than $1 billion in COVID relief funds from the state and federal governments. The CARES Act gave $554 million to the county, most of which went to the OC Health Care Agency ($168 million) and the Sheriff’s Department ($146 million).
The county received an additional $616.8 million through the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. Most of the ARPA funding was earmarked for COVID-19 response. With the ARPA funding, each of the five district supervisors received an additional $10 million that each could use at their discretion, on top of $3 million from the county’s general fund.
Do has disbursed $12.4 million of his discretionary allotment in the First District, according to county records, about half of which went to nonprofit Viet America Society, for which his daughter held revolving leadership roles, according to documentation. Do did not disclose his daughter’s relation to the charity, which did not violate county policy or state conflict-of-interest law. But he has received much criticism and calls for his resignation.
Viet America Society, Rhiannon Do, the nonprofit’s president Peter Pham and others affiliated with the nonprofit are named in the lawsuit filed by the county last week; Supervisor Do is not.
The county is alleging the funds received by the nonprofit for providing meals to the elderly and disabled people during the pandemic were instead “brazenly plundered” for personal gain. The suit points to several property purchases including the $1 million Tustin house bought by Rhiannon Do in July 2023.
Representatives of Viet America Society have said the money was spent helping people as intended, though record keeping could have been better.
Lawrence Rosenthal, a former federal prosecutor and now a law professor at Chapman University, said it appeared authorities had a solid case, based on a judge signing the search warrants executed Thursday and the county making strong allegations in its lawsuit.
“We know a judge found probable cause to believe there would be evidence of a crime at the places searched,” Rosenthal said. “There’s certainly reason to believe a pretty solid fraud case is taking place.”
Misuse of COVID relief dollars has been rampant across the country, largely in unemployment fraud, according to the task force report.
In Washington, the leader of a $6.8 million pandemic fraud ring was sentenced to five years in prison for fraudulently seeking funds from various relief programs.
A business owner in Arkansas pleaded guilty to fraudulently receiving more than $16.5 million in pandemic relief funds, enriching himself and others. More than 50 individuals in Minnesota were charged for a $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program.
In California, a federal strike force criminally charged 17 cases that have added up to more than $20 million in losses. For example, a woman was sentenced to six years in prison for using stolen identities to receive about $200,000 in unemployment and small business benefits.
Rosenthal said such fraud was to be expected when two presidential administrations made the decision to get the money out to people who needed it rather than bog it down with red tape.
“It was more important to get the money out the door than to create the guardrails that would slow down the system,” he said.
Related Articles
Orange County restaurants shut down by health inspectors (Aug. 15-22)
“The School That Works:” Cristo Rey High blends school, corporate internships
Corky: The impulse to be one wave ahead in a crowded lineup
2 students start Laguna Beach High after being told they would have to attend special education program elsewhere
Potential water restrictions at Arrowhead Springs Hotel raise concerns over wildfire danger
Leave a Reply