{"id":212832,"date":"2026-03-10T07:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/212832\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:56:14","slug":"former-supervisor-do-chief-of-staff-forced-through-spending-without-oversight-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/212832\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Supervisor Do, chief of staff forced through spending without oversight \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Disgraced former Orange County First District Supervisor Andrew Do<\/a> and his top lieutenant bullied county staff into approving contracts and payments to Do\u2019s allies and campaign contributors beyond the $10 million that he was convicted of diverting<\/a>, an audit has concluded.<\/p>\n

The audit, commissioned last year by county supervisors and released Monday, said that Do and his chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn, \u201cestablished a culture where decisions related to District 1 contracts were not to be questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do pleaded guilty in 2024 to steering $10 million<\/a> in pandemic relief funds to charities he was affiliated with, primarily one that employed his daughter, in exchange for kickbacks. The new audit by Houston-based accounting firm Weaver said he also forced $800,000 in payments to a firm that may have double-billed the county for COVID-19 testing and guided money to campaign contributors who worked on a Tet Festival sponsored by his office.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, I have known that Andrew Do was a criminal, acting as the Godfather of Little Saigon \u2014 strong-arming political opponents and pressuring his minions to do more. Now the county has evidence of all of it, and I\u2019m hoping the federal DOJ, FBI, state attorney general, the district attorney and the FPPC (California Fair Political Practices Commission) investigate,\u201d said Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who was elected to replace Do on the board of supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single person and business who participated in this fraud needs to be investigated and criminally charged if the evidence warrants it,\u201d Nguyen said.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In this 2020 file photo, 360 Clinic workers give COVID testing instructions and collect specimens at the Anaheim Convention Center. The probe also looked at the mass COVID-19 testing provided to the county by 360 Clinic, which is accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of scheming to illegally solicit kickbacks from doctors and defraud federal health programs. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

Chris Wangsaporn, Chief of Staff for former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, in 2019. The audit, commissioned last year by county supervisors and released Monday, March 9, said that Do and his chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn, \u201cestablished a culture where decisions related to District 1 contracts were not to be questioned.\u201d(Facebook via Supervisor Andrew Do)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man exits a little replica Vietnamese town with a temple, school and house, along with typical Vietnamese vehicles during the annual Orange County Tet Festival at Mile Square Park in Feb. 2022. A county-commissioned audit looked at the spending of District 1 funds on Tet and Moon festivals at Mile Square Park.
\n(Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Supervisor<\/p>\n

Supervisor Andrew Do gives thumbs up to the sound technicians at the Moon Festival celebration at Mile Square park in October 2023. A county-commissioned audit looked at the spending of District 1 funds on Tet and Moon festivals at Mile Square Park.
\n(Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do leaves federal court in Santa Ana in October. 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Viet<\/p>\n

Viet America Society President Peter Pham sits in his truck across from his Garden Grove home as federal agents execute a search warrant on his home o in Aug. 2024. Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do listens during the supervisors\u2019 meeting in Santa Ana in Nov. 2022. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Dressed<\/p>\n

Dressed traditional clothing dancers perform on stage during the annual Moon Festival Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley in Sept. 2021. A county-commissioned audit looked at the spending of District 1 funds on Tet and Moon festivals at Mile Square Park. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 8<\/p>\n

In this 2020 file photo, 360 Clinic workers give COVID testing instructions and collect specimens at the Anaheim Convention Center. The probe also looked at the mass COVID-19 testing provided to the county by 360 Clinic, which is accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of scheming to illegally solicit kickbacks from doctors and defraud federal health programs. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Do amassed considerable political power in nearly a decade on the board that he was able to subvert the county\u2019s vetting and procurement processes, said the audit\u2019s authors, and no one in authority appeared to question it. Do and his chief of staff would go over the heads of staff members who complained, the audit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cContracts appeared to have been steered toward businesses that employed an immediate family member of Former Supervisor Do, businesses that contributed to his political campaigns shortly after being awarded a contract, businesses that provided a media platform for Former Supervisor Do, as well as businesses involved in various aspects of the Tet and Moon festivals put on each year for District 1 \u2018constituents,\u2019\u201d the audit said.<\/p>\n

For instance, fees to operate booths at the District 1-sponsored Tet and Moon festivals were not paid to the county, but to outside companies run by Do\u2019s contributors, the audit said. One of those companies, HD Entertainment, was run by Peter Pham, who has been charged by federal prosecutors with Do in the separate $10 million scheme defrauding the county.<\/p>\n

County officials should have known that private companies, 2T Media and HD Entertainment, were collecting the booth fees, because two county agencies sponsored booths and paid their fees to the private firms, the audit said.<\/p>\n

The probe also said that 2T Media, run by Aaron Ngo, produced a weekly Vietnamese-language talk show and did other marketing featuring Do, who ordered that the county pay the firm in advance for the programming, the audit said. The county paid 2T Media $623,000 over a six-year period.<\/p>\n

Additionally,\u00a0Do demanded that hundreds of thousands of dollars in pass-through grants to Garden Grove Community Foundation and Westminster Chamber of Commerce be steered by those organizations to firms controlled by Do\u2019s allies, the audit said.<\/p>\n

The probe also looked at the mass COVID-19 testing provided to the county by 360 Clinic, which is accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of scheming to illegally solicit kickbacks from doctors and defraud federal health programs. The suit by a former employee outlined an alleged plot to double-bill government agencies and collect kickbacks from doctors in exchange for referrals.<\/p>\n

A compliance officer in a June 2025 report to the county found evidence that 360 Clinic did indeed double-bill<\/a> the county for services that were already covered by the county or the federal government.<\/p>\n

The Weaver audit recommends that the county investigate how much money it may have overpaid 360 Clinic and determine whether to claw it back.<\/p>\n

The attorneys for 360 Clinic and Pham did not return requests for comment. Lawyer Paul Meyer, representing Do, said it would be inappropriate to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n

Calls to 2T Media\u2019s office in Westminster were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

Wangsaporn could also not be immediately reached for comment on Monday. The audit noted he did not respond to the auditors\u2019 interview request.<\/p>\n

The audit released Monday is the first of four phases ordered by the board in November 2025 to look at 1,500 county contracts in light of the Do debacle. This first report investigated 145 \u201ctop priority\u201d contracts amounting to $486 million in taxpayer money. Eventually, auditors are expected to look at all contracts totaling $4.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Auditors are recommending that the county tighten up its oversight of contracts; update the board\u2019s code of ethics to not allow any direct influence on staff members\u2019 procurement decisions; and put in place more stringent regulations for approving sole-source agreements.<\/p>\n

Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the independent auditor will present the report\u2019s findings and recommendations to the board on March 24. He pushed for stronger whistleblower protections for rank-and-file employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the independent firm released the phase one results of that audit and sadly the results confirmed an environment of corruption around former Supervisor Do\u2019s office, starting as early as 2019,\u201d Sarmiento said in a statement. \u201cThe findings showed the bullying tactics and a culture that allowed Andrew Do to benefit his family and friends with special treatment and dollars at the expense of county residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do is currently serving a five-year prison sentence following his guilty plea in October 2024 to accepting $550,000 in bribes to steer more than $10 million in pandemic relief funds to certain nonprofits, primarily Viet America Society, which employed his daughter, Rhiannon, as a condition. Do admitted to diverting money that was meant to feed older adults and disabled people through his county office to the charity run by Pham.<\/p>\n

Roughly $1 million was earmarked for an incomplete Vietnam War memorial that was torn down<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n

While representing Orange County\u2019s First District, Do directed contracts to the Viet America Society and Hand-to-Hand Relief Organization Inc., the former of which kicked money back to Do through payments to his daughter.<\/p>\n

Much of the money came from district discretionary funds. Of the $9.3 million allocated by Do to Viet America Society for the county meals program, only $1.4 million was spent on the meals, according to Do\u2019s plea agreement.<\/p>\n

Rhiannon Do received most of the bribes via a high-paying job at Viet America Society and $350,000 for a down payment on a $1 million North Tustin home. Do\u2019s other daughter received $100,000 from Viet America Society.<\/p>\n

Rhiannon Do was not charged; prosecutors allowed her to enter into a diversion agreement.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, the county sued Viet America Society and associates<\/a>, including CEO Peter Pham and Rhiannon Do, to recoup more than $10 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Andrew Do was later added, and the case is currently pending.<\/p>\n

Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley said the county has already implemented many of the auditors\u2019 recommendations, including requiring nonprofits that contract with the county to prove they have active nonprofit status and a tax ID number with the state and federal governments.<\/p>\n

Foley said she supported exploring the new recommendations, including an evaluation of the county\u2019s current fraud reporting hotline and the creation of formal guidelines to ensure sponsorship revenues from county-funded events are received by the county.<\/p>\n

Do \u201cwas doing this long before the COVID money hit,\u201d Foley said. \u201cThere was already a way that he knew how to manipulate the system to benefit himself and friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foley said the county has recovered $3.7 million in taxpayer funds from Do\u2019s bribery scheme. The county is expected to receive up to $8.8 million.<\/p>\n

Chairman Doug Chaffee said the audit illuminated \u201ca larger pattern of unethical influence and illegal actions\u201d by Do and that the county is committed to making its contracting process more transparent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a public official, his priority should have been to serve his community, not enriching himself, family, friends, and campaign donors,\u201d Chaffee said in a statement. \u201cThe county has implemented stricter oversight since this scandal emerged and will continue to implement safeguards that ensure ethical governance and protect taxpayer monies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disgraced former Orange County First District Supervisor Andrew Do and his top lieutenant bullied county staff into approving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,23,611,4765,136],"class_list":["post-212832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-local-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orange-county-board-of-supervisors","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}