The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to move ahead with hiring an outside firm to conduct a forensic audit of all contracts executed by four agencies in response to the Andrew Do corruption scandal.
The audit will cover contracts through the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency that were established between January 2019 and August 2024.
The move comes after Do resigned from the board last month shortly after federal prosecutors said the longtime elected official had agreed to plead guilty in a conspiracy to steal millions of dollars meant to feed needy seniors. Since last November, LAist has uncovered how Do directed county contracts and millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit, Viet America Society (VAS), linked to his daughter, Rhiannon Do. The money was meant to feed seniors during the pandemic and to build a Vietnam War memorial. Federal prosecutors say just 15% of the money earmarked for meals was actually used for that purpose.
The audit was approved Tuesday on a 3-1 vote. The audit firm will be required to present their findings at a public forum or a Board of Supervisors meeting.
The audit, however, will be more limited in scope to what Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento first called for: an "independent third-party forensic audit" of all contracts "directed or influenced" by Do.
Board Chairman Don Wagner voted against the audit.
The supervisors also voted on a policy document that affirmed they will adhere to "transparent and ethical contracting." If the supervisors do not adhere to the policy, they could face censure or be referred for criminal prosecution. County employees who do not follow guidelines in contracting could also be subject to "training, loss of procurement license, and/or disciplinary action."
Meanwhile, contractors who violate the terms of agreements with the county could face "contract termination, restitution requests, and other legal remedies."
"You can't legislate good conduct, but you can certainly create checks and balances and better guardrails," Sarmiento said of the external audit on Tuesday.
Aggie Alonso, the director of internal audit at the county, told supervisors it could take four to five months to find an outside firm at a cost of around $2 million.
Sarminento said the external audit will "make sure that we've covered all gaps, made sure that the work that's been done by our internal audit team is credible, is strong, and is something that we can confidently move forward with and demonstrate to the public."
Since LAist began reporting on Do, the county has passed other reforms.
County officials are reviewing contracts funded by federal COVID dollars after Orange County supervisors directed them to do so in September. They were given 90 days to come back with their findings.
Supervisors also voted in September to update the current contract policy manual to bring the county in line with AB 3130, a new bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom that will require county supervisors across the state to disclose any family ties they have to a nonprofit's employees or officers before awarding contracts. The new law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, and was inspired by LAist's reporting.
Another bill signed into law by Newsom, AB-2946, will require a majority vote by the Orange County Board of Supervisors before discretionary funds are awarded to a nonprofit or community group. The supervisors will also be required to post details online of how the money was spent.
And starting in 2026, Senate Bill 1111 will make it a crime in California for elected officials to be involved in awarding government contracts to organizations if they know their child is an officer or director of the vendor, or has at least a 10% ownership stake. State Sen. Dave Min, who introduced the bill, said LAist's reporting led him to take on the issue.
In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered public records showing more than $13 million in public money that was approved to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon 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.
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