ORANGE COUNTY, California (NV) – Two lawsuits filed by Orange County, accusing two non-profit organizations and a few people within the Vietnamese group of embezzling COVID-19 funds, had been transferred to the San Diego County court docket for processing, in response to The Orange County Register on August 22.
Rhiannon Do, daughter of Supervisor Andrew Do, who represents District 1 on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is a kind of named on this civil lawsuit.
The lawsuits, one in opposition to the Viet America Society (VAS) and a number of other others related to the group, and one in opposition to the nonprofit Hand to Hand Aid Group (H2H), filed within the California Superior Court docket in Orange County had been merged and transferred to this court docket in San Diego County.
The case shall be dealt with by Decide Katherine A. Bacal, in response to court docket data.
The submitting seen by OCR didn’t say why the case was moved, however Decide Cheri Pham, the spouse of Supervisor Andrew Do and mom of Rhiannon Do, is at the moment an assistant presiding decide on the Orange County courthouse.
Cheri Pham, who was speculated to be the court docket’s chief justice, informed her colleagues in July that she wouldn’t settle for the court docket’s high job in an inner election in October, in response to OCR. She didn’t give a motive.
“After cautious consideration, I’ve determined to not search reelection to this place,” Chief Justice Cheri Pham wrote to her colleagues in a July 1 e mail.
“This resolution was not a straightforward one. It has been an honor to serve on the court docket as an assistant presiding decide… I look ahead to persevering with my service to the court docket and to the group.”
Based on the Voice of OC web site on August 7, an affiliate presiding decide of the Supreme Court docket usually runs unopposed for the place of presiding decide. Voice of OC didn’t know the final time an affiliate presiding decide didn’t run for reelection as a result of the court docket doesn’t maintain data on the matter.
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento (District 2) stated he needs the case to be heard in Orange County as a result of it includes native tax {dollars}, in response to OCR.
“Nevertheless, I perceive that there could also be different elements that require the case to be transferred to a different jurisdiction to make sure a good and neutral trial,” Mr. Sarmiento stated.
Supervisor Don Wagner (District 3), chairman of the Board of Supervisors, stated he believes the San Diego court docket will hear the case “rapidly.”
“I nonetheless hope that the entire defendants can show that the cash they obtained was used to assist individuals in want as required by the contract,” Wagner stated. “If not, what they need to do is promptly return the cash.”
On August 15, Orange County filed a lawsuit in opposition to VAS, accusing members of utilizing COVID-19 reduction funds for “private achieve,” together with buying six properties, together with one in Tustin bought by Rhiannon Do for $1,035,000 in 2023, in response to the lawsuit.
Along with Mr. Peter Pham (VAS chairman) and Ms. Rhiannon Do, Orange County additionally sued Mr. Dinh Mai (VAS secretary), and Ms. Vu Thi Thu Thao (Aloha Monetary Funding, Inc. worker and proprietor of Fragrance River Restaurant, Westminster), together with VAS and Aloha Monetary Funding, Inc.
Based on LAist on August 25, based mostly on the receipt obtained by the media company, Ms. Thao lives in the identical home with Mr. Peter Pham.
On August 20, Orange County additionally filed a lawsuit in opposition to H2H and Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huong, the group’s common director.
LAist quoted Supervisor Katrina Foley (District 5) as saying that in response to the lawsuit, Orange County gave H2H $3 million throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to offer meals for seniors, and accused the group of utilizing that cash to repay money owed.
The group was accused of transferring cash to Nguyen Thanh Huong’s companies, paying hire to Aloha Monetary Funding, Inc., and withdrawing “giant quantities of money.”
Not solely that, Ms. Foley’s workplace additionally accused H2H of transferring greater than $600,000 in pandemic subsidies to VAS as a subcontractor.
Based on the 2 lawsuits, these organizations and people embezzled whereas utilizing $13.5 million that the county “poured” into help for the poor, primarily by means of choices and votes of Supervisor Andrew Do.
Mr. Andrew Do was criticized for not disclosing his daughter’s management position in VAS, regardless that this didn’t violate county and state laws.
On August 22, the FBI and a number of other legislation enforcement companies searched the properties of Andrew Do and Cheri Pham in North Tustin, Rhiannon Do’s residence in Tustin, Peter Pham’s residence in Backyard Grove, Fragrance River Restaurant in Westminster, and Andrew Do’s private workplace in Huntington Seaside. (D.D.)
