Federal agents on Thursday searched the family home of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do and his wife — O.C. Superior Court Assistant Presiding Judge Cheri Pham — as well as a home owned by their daughter Rhiannon Do and multiple properties connected to an LAist investigation into millions of tax dollars that have gone unaccounted for.
A spokesperson for the IRS Criminal Investigation division confirmed they were involved in the searches along with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The search warrants were executed for 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, the founder of Viet America Society (VAS); and a Fountain Valley home that government filings show is the business address for VAS — the nonprofit Orange County officials sued earlier this month for alleged fraud.
A neighbor told an LAist reporter on the scene that over a dozen black cars were parked on the street around the North Tustin house of Supervisor Do and Cheri Pham at the time of the raid.
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed they served search warrants at the homes. “The affidavit in support of the search warrant is under seal and so we’re prohibited from commenting as to the nature of the case. No arrests planned,” Laura Eimiller said.
Rhiannon Do’s Tustin home was named in the fraud lawsuit filed last week by Orange County officials, calling on VAS to return millions in taxpayer dollars. The lawsuit alleges that a fraud scheme involving Rhiannon Do, other VAS leaders, Aloha Financial Investment and its president Thu Thao Thi Vu, who owns the Fountain Valley home raided Thursday.
Vu’s name also appears on the grant deed for Rhiannon Do’s home purchase, as someone who should receive a copy once it’s officially recorded. Financial records obtained by LAist show that a large portion of county funds sent to VAS were routed to Perfume River Restaurant in Westminster, which is owned by Vu’s company, Aloha Financial Investment. Two VAS leaders have also held leadership roles at Aloha, according to records LAist obtained.
The FBI confirmed that it was involved in the raid on the Perfume River Restaurant, located in the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster. An IRS spokesperson, however, said the agency did not join in that operation.
Rhiannon Do and Peter Pham are among those accused in the county’s lawsuit of a fraud scheme to divert funds intended to feed needy seniors and build a war memorial, to instead pay for million-dollar homes and improvements to the homes.
Requests for comment were not returned by Supervisor Do, Rhiannon Do or Peter Pham. Peter Pham told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that the situation was a "misunderstanding" and that he "didn't do anything wrong."
An O.C. Superior Court spokesperson said Cheri Pham is unable to comment due to California judicial ethics rules barring judges from commenting on law enforcement actions or pending court cases.
On Friday, David Wiechert, an attorney who said he had been retained to represent Rhiannon Do, told LAist Rhiannon Do is a "very honest, law-abiding, hardworking young woman."
"It’s our intention to demonstrate to the government the error of their ways if they think she’s done something wrong,” he said.
The raid of Rhiannon Do’s home in Tustin
An LAist reporter saw at least six law enforcement officers outside Rhiannon Do’s home and around the front doorway Thursday morning. Around 11:20 a.m., an LAist reporter at the scene overheard a law enforcement agent say Rhiannon Do was inside the home. Law enforcement officers were inside at the time as well. A neighbor told LAist that he saw Rhiannon Do come in with the agents when they first entered the house earlier this morning.
The IRS’ criminal division was involved in the raid on Rhiannon Do’s house. Most of the agents observed by LAist wore black shirts with "POLICE IRS-CI" printed on the back. An LAist reporter also overheard an agent telling a private investigator that they were with IRS' criminal investigation division.
A spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office confirmed they were involved in the raids but declined to comment further.
Rhiannon Do purchased the home last year for $1.035 million, according to Zillow and real estate records reviewed by LAist.
Larry Thomas, who lives next door to the house, told LAist around 9:45 a.m. that officers were standing guard outside. He said he was hearing what he described as “slamming and quite a bit of noise” from inside the house.
A photo obtained by LAist shows what appears to be an evidence marker in front of a small structure on the property. The white rectangular sign states “ROOM P.” An LAist reporter overheard an agent next to the home say, "Remember, you’re looking for documents.” An agent also noted finding a large amount of Christmas decorations.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m., an agent exited the house with two large rectangular boxes and drove away.
Federal agents were at the Tustin home for nearly eight hours.
At one point, agents came out and put a file folder, three file boxes and a black trash bag, half full, into a car.
Shortly after 5 p.m. an LAist reporter saw five agents exit the home and leave in five separate vehicles.
Supervisor Do and Rhiannon Do have been in and out of the house in recent days, Thomas told LAist on Wednesday. Rhiannon in particular, he said, has been in and out of the house more in the last 48 hours than in the year-plus since buying it.
Earlier this week, Thomas told LAist that there have been no signs anyone ever moved into the home, in the year or so since Rhiannon Do bought it.
He said that in the first few months after the purchase, a significant amount of work appeared to be done on the house, including the sound of electric saws.
“You could hear, every day, hammers and saws and heavy equipment,” Thomas said.
The backstory
LAist revealed last December that the nonprofit, Viet America Society, had failed to account for what happened with millions of dollars in taxpayer money Do had provided the group.
In response to LAist’s questions in April about the funding her father directed to the nonprofit and the home purchase, Rhiannon Do did not answer if any county funds provided to her nonprofit were used to purchase the home. She denied that anything improper took place and said she worked hard for her home.
After the county gave the nonprofit months of opportunities this year to provide required proof, it ended up filing a lawsuit last week alleging a sweeping fraud scheme to divert money that was meant to feed vulnerable seniors during the pandemic. Among the county’s allegations are that funding was illegally diverted to buying multiple homes, including Rhiannon Do’s home in Tustin.
Supervisor Do has not responded to LAist’s requests for comment over the last nine months. He has denied any wrongdoing in interviews with other media. State law does not require the disclosure of his family tie to the nonprofit he funded with taxpayer money. The state Legislature is advancing a bill that would change that.
Responses to the searches
Santa Ana City Councilmember Thai Viet Phan, the first Vietnamese American elected to the council, called for the “immediate resignation” of Supervisor Do.
“While innocent until proven guilty, Supervisor Do has lost the trust of our community and should not retain power over a $9.3 billion budget,” Phan said.
Community organizations VietRISE and Harbor Institute for Immigrant & Economic Justice also called for the resignation of Supervisor Andrew Do.
“Residents continue to face skyrocketing rents, evictions, and homelessness, yet Supervisor Do used his position to divert taxpayer dollars towards million-dollar properties for his own family and friends,” the statement from both organizations said. “Supervisor Do has failed the residents of his own District, including the working-class immigrants and refugees of Little Saigon.”
State Sen. Dave Min issued a statement saying he was glad federal authorities were investigating allegations of public corruption in Orange County.
“For too long, Orange County has been seen as a place where corruption and abuse of the public trust are part of the political culture,” he said.
Min’s Rebuilding Public Trust Act, which was inspired by LAist’s reporting, is currently awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature and would require elected officials to recuse themselves from votes that would award government contracts to their family members. He said he hoped the raids would be motivation for the governor to sign the legislation.
Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley said she anticipates the raids will “uncover additional evidence that proves the brazen criminal conspiracy by these individuals who stole millions to enrich themselves instead of feeding hungry, disabled seniors.”
Meeting coming up next week
The O.C. Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet Tuesday for their regularly scheduled meeting.
Among the items Supervisor Do and other supervisors are being asked to decide is whether to increase funding for real estate fraud prosecutions by the DA’s office.
The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 27.
Here’s how you can follow along:
- Attend in person: The Board of Supervisors meets in the County Administration North, Board Hearing Room, First Floor, 400 W Civic Center Dr, Santa Ana.
- Listen to the meeting via phone: Call (866) 590-5055. Access code: 4138489
- Watch the live broadcast
To submit a comment, you can attend in person, dial in or submit a comment via email to response@ocgov.com.
Catch up on the investigation
In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money 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.
- Read the story that launched the investigation here.
- Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group was two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately.
- And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist.
- After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
- And, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
- On Aug. 2, LAist reported O.C. officials were demanding the refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
- Six days later, LAist reported Orange County officials had expanded demands for refunds of millions in tax dollars from the nonprofits and threatened legal action.
- On Aug. 15, LAist reported O.C. officials sued VAS and its key officers and associated businesses, including Rhiannon Do. The lawsuit alleges that county money was illegally used to purchase five homes and was converted into cash through ATM transactions.
- Then, on Aug. 19, LAist reported O.C. officials had announced a second lawsuit against Hand to Hand and its CEO to recover millions of taxpayer dollars that were directed by Supervisor Do.
