Federal agents raided homes linked to the daughter of an Orange County supervisor and the president of a local nonprofit that county attorneys say were improperly purchased with taxpayer money.
The homes searched Thursday morning were related to allegations made against the Viet America Society, a nonprofit that Orange County contracted to feed the elderly and needy during the pandemic, an FBI spokesperson confirmed.
The spokesman said he could not confirm additional details of the search, including the number of locations involved in the investigation, because the search warrants were filed under seal.
Thursday's searches came after Orange County filed lawsuits against the Viet America Society and its executives, including the daughter of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, who worked with the organization.
In the lawsuit, county prosecutors accuse the nonprofit’s executives — including its executive director Peter Ahn Pham, secretary Dinh Mai and Do’s 23-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do — of pocketing more than $10 million in contracts and using the funds to buy homes in Garden Grove, Buena Park, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Tustin.
Among the homes searched Thursday was a property in Tustin that the lawsuit says was purchased by the county supervisor's daughter on July 23, 2023. According to the real estate site Redfin, the home was purchased for $1,035,000.
In a statement, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley praised the federal investigation.
“Federal investigators responded to our call to investigate the potential criminal activities of VAS and its principals,” the statement read. “The concerns raised by our county staff were clearly justified and I support all efforts to bring justice to our taxpayers.”
