An ongoing audit of COVID-19-related contracts ordered by Orange County officials revealed more details of the corruption centered out of the office of former Supervisor Andrew Do, but the county’s board chairman and vice chair said it appears the lapses remain connected to the disgraced politician serving a federal prison term.
Weaver and Tidwell in March released its first phase of the independent forensic audit, which was ordered in December 2024. The report released Wednesday is the second of a planned four.
The auditors are reviewing about 2,500 contracts for about $4.3 billion from January 2019 through August 2024. The second phase reviewed 681 contracts for about $1.7 billion.
“We’ve made some changes since then,” Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee said. “I think we’ve learned something, and this is another learning experience and the recommendations they have made we’ve either done them or we’ll get to them in due course.”
Chaffee said he intends to ask county staff to review the audit for any recommendations that can still be implemented to avoid conflicts of interest going forward.
“We need to finish up this audit because every time we go through a tranch of contracts we find more contracts Andrew Do was connected to where they’re out of compliance,” Foley said.
“They can’t prove what money was spent on, and so we need to finish the audit, the full scope, the full impact on our procurements, and then put in place all the protections that will prevent something like this happening in the future.”
Foley added, “The good news is we don’t have any systematic, countywide problem with fraud and abuse. It’s really centered around one supervisor… Through all these hundreds of contracts we have audited we’re narrowing down the fraud and abuse to all connect to one supervisor’s office.”
Do was sentenced in June 2025 to five years in federal prison.
Do admitted in his plea agreement that in exchange for more than $550,000 in bribes, he cast votes on the Board of Supervisors beginning in 2020 that directed more than $10 million in COVID-19 relief funds to the Viet America Society, where his daughter Rhiannon worked, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
From 2021 to 2023, Do funneled more than $10 million in county contracts to the society, prosecutors said. The money was part of a food-delivery program during the pandemic as well as a $1 million grant for a Vietnam War Memorial in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, prosecutors said.
Rhiannon worked for the society and was paid $8,000 monthly between September 2021 and February 2024, for a total of $224,000, prosecutors said. Rhiannon Do was placed in a diversion program as part of the plea deal.
In July 2023, $381,500 from the society was put in escrow so Rhiannon Do could buy a $1.035 million house in Tustin, prosecutors said. Do’s other daughter received $100,000 in October 2022, prosecutors said.
Do used $14,849 of the money to pay property tax for two properties in Orange County that he owned with his wife, Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham, prosecutors said. Do used another $15,000 to pay off credit card debt, prosecutors said.
Do’s friend Peter Pham, who ran the Viet America Society, was also indicted on single counts each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud bribery and six counts each of wire fraud and concealment of money laundering. Pham’s whereabouts are unknown and federal prosecutors say he is considered a fugitive.
Co-defendant Thanh Huong Nguyen of Santa Ana was also charged with single counts each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and concealment of money laundering. Federal prosecutors consider Pham a fugitive.
Much of the most recent audit focused on efforts from county officials to get contracts out quickly to address the pandemic emergency. Former Health Care Agency Dr. Clayton Chau, who helped auditors with their report, was criticized for his relationship with one vendor and dismissing concerns about Rhiannon Do’s conflict of interest with Warner Wellness, which was a subcontractor to the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance Inc.
Chau “strongly encouraged” the alliance to subcontract with Warner Wellness “as part of a mental health outreach initiative for underserved communities, even though (the alliance) had no prior relationship with the organization and (the alliance) raised concerns about its qualifications and organizational status.”
Alliance officials “encountered ongoing compliance, staffing, and management issues with Warner Wellness, ultimately terminating the subcontract in April 2024 after multiple corrective action notices,” according to the audit.
The auditors found that the alleged conflict of interest between the Dos and Warner Wellness were not adequately investigated.
The auditors recommended increasing training among staff on how to report conflict-of-interest concerns.
The audit also found that a contract with Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp. as part of an effort to help small businesses lacked documentation for about 54%, or $268,596, of its expenses. Part of the contract was to provide help with outdoor dining during the pandemic.
The audit also focused on vaccination services provided by Mercy Pharmacy, criticizing the lack of “documentation supporting the process” of selecting the company.
“Based on information provided by HCA it is our understanding that Dr. Chau was friends with Mercy Pharmacy and wanted to use them because they do good work,” the audit reported.
The audit also faulted Mercy for its documentation of services provided.
Former Orange County CEO Frank Kim told City News Service that when he was approached about the rumors of Rhiannon Do’s conflict of interest he asked Andrew Do’s chief of staff about it and was told there was no conflict.
When Kim saw a news article about Rhiannon Do working for Warner Wellness he confronted the chief of staff again, who told him, “I told you there was no conflict, I didn’t say she didn’t work there,’ ” Kim said.
Kim said he documented the conversation and sent a memo to county counsel. Kim added he was told by county counsel at the time that state law did not prevent an adult child of an elected official from working for a contractor, but that law has been changed in light of the Do corruption.
Kim said a lot of the emergency contracts were necessary at the time.
“There was a lot of pressure to get a lot of services out on the street. I don’t think people understand what it was like,” Kim said. “Hospitals were overcrowded and we were fearful of things we saw in the media… The primary focus was getting services out. It was a tough time and we did the best we could and I’m sure mistakes were made, but they were not intentional.”
Kim pointed out nurses were in short supply and the hospitals were overrun with patients. As the vaccinations were being rolled out the death toll grew so high in the county there were air quality alerts because of the high volume of cremations as hospital and coroner officials scrambled for places to store the bodies of COVID-19 victims.
It was also challenging to find vendors for services, Kim said.
“I had a lot of faith in Clayton,” Kim said of Chau. “And I think he did a wonderful job during the pandemic. He worked day and night. I believe he worked incredibly hard for the benefit of the community, and it’s frustrating to see the attacks on him.”
One challenge faced by healthcare agency officials was documentation of insurance for some vaccination recipients, especially among those who were immigrants in the country without legal permission who feared handing over private information to government officials, Kim said. The priority was getting shots in arms to chase herd immunity, Kim said.
Foley agreed, but said she has concerns about the audit’s findings regarding the 360 Clinic. The audit faulted the clinic for its documentation and may have “double-billed” for 1,072 tests.
“My main concern with vaccinations in 360 was double dipping,” Foley said. “Whether we were paying them and they were getting reimbursements from insurance… The taxpayers shouldn’t have had to pay twice.”