Federal agents have raided homes linked to the daughter of an Orange County supervisor and the president of a local nonprofit that county attorneys allege were improperly purchased with taxpayer money.
The homes searched Thursday morning were linked to allegations against the Viet America Society, a nonprofit Orange County contracted to feed the elderly and needy during the pandemic, an FBI spokesman confirmed.
The spokesman said he could not confirm further details of the search, including the number of locations involved in the investigation, because the search warrants were sealed.
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 trialCounty attorneys accuse executives of the nonprofit, including its executive director Peter Ahn Pham, secretary Dinh Mai and Do’s daughter, 23-year-old Rhiannon Do, of pocketing more than $10 million in contracts and using the funds to buy homes in the Garden Grove, Buena Park, Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Tustin.
Among the homes searched Thursday was a property in Tustin that, according to the lawsuit, was purchased by the county supervisor’s daughter on July 23, 2023. According to real estate website 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 potential criminal activities by VAS and their principals,” the statement said. “The concerns raised by our county staff were clearly valid, and I support all efforts to advance justice for our taxpayers.”