2 OC Supervisors push for investigations into nonprofits that can’t account for taxpayer money

Two Orange County supervisors are escalating their efforts to find out where millions of taxpayer dollars have gone that were meant to provide meals for seniors and people with disabilities.

In a statement released Wednesday, Supervisors Katrina Foley and Vicente Sarmiento urged the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the state of California and the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate Viet America Society (VAS) and Hand to Hand Relief Organization, the nonprofits that received those funds.

“I feel like there's an unlawfulness to this that someone needs to investigate,” Foley said in an interview with LAist.

Foley added that, in her view, the evidence shows the nonprofits can’t prove where the funds were spent.

“If it's lawful, fine. If it's not, then we need to hold people accountable,” she said.

Supervisor Doug Chafee said he also backs county counsel’s efforts to recoup and account for the funds by an Aug. 26 deadline. Last week, County Counsel Leon J. Page sent letters warning the nonprofits that if his demands weren’t met by that date, he would recommend the county take "any and all legal remedies" to recoup the funds, including suing.

The backstory

According to public records obtained by LAist, Supervisor Andrew Do’s daughter was listed as a top leader of VAS, though she and Sterling Scott Winchell, who until recently served as an attorney for the group, have said she was never in those roles. The family connection was first reported by LAist late last year.

California law does not prohibit lawmakers from benefiting adult children, although it does preclude benefits to spouses and minor children.

LAist previously reported that public records show Supervisor Do directed at least $13.5 million to the nonprofit where his daughter Rhiannon Do worked. Most of the money was directed outside of the public’s view and did not appear on public agendas.

After LAist published its findings last year, county officials demanded VAS account for the missing money or repay the funds . The nonprofit missed multiple deadlines to provide receipts.

LAist was first to report that the county threatened legal action and upped the demand to repay more than $4 million, or prove where that money went, by Aug. 26. The county has also demanded that Hand to Hand Relief Organization repay $3 million, according to records obtained by LAist.

Hand to Hand Relief Organization is another nonprofit that Supervisor Do directed money to during the pandemic. Hand to Hand routed a significant portion of that money to VAS, according to county spokespeople and a financial ledger reviewed by LAist.

What VAS' now former attorney said

Winchell, who represented VAS from earlier this year until this week, said the nonprofit will not pay the money back . He told the Orange County Register the work had been done (he also told the Register this week that he and VAS had mutually parted ways). Winchell previously served as Supervisor Do’s appointee to the county ethics commission from 2018 to 2023.

Foley said the latest developments moved her and Sarmiento to take accountability demands “up a notch.”

“Supervisor Sarmiento and I have grown impatient at the inability for these organizations to show us the receipts and now with their lawyer making this adamant statement that they are not returning any of the money,” Foley told LAist.

Foley also called for the county’s auditor to review all county contracts that used federal American Rescue Plan Act money. She also requested state and federal officials audit the funds.

Sarmiento introduced an ethics reform initiative at the county level, which deadlocked in a 2-2 vote by his fellow supervisors late last year. He's now working with state senators to pass an anti-nepotism bill sparked by LAist’s investigation .

In an interview with LAist on Wednesday, Sarmiento said time had run out for voluntary answers from VAS and Hand to Hand.

"If they’re not able to produce responses, I think we’re left with no other recourse but to now begin litigation and investigation and ensuring that these public funds were used as intended," he said.

What's next

Supervisor Do has not responded to LAist’s multiple requests for comment since last November. On Wednesday, a person who answered the phone at Do’s county office directed the call to his chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn. The transferred call went to voicemail and LAist’s message has not been returned at time of publication. LAist also reached out to leaders of the nonprofits, but was unable to reach anyone.

Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer, told LAist, “We appreciate the Supervisors’ input,” but declined to comment further.

In their joint statement, Foley and Sarmiento say they are against extending the audit deadlines for the two nonprofits beyond the latest one set for Aug. 26. Foley told LAist she supports the recommended timeline from county counsel to take further legal action.

In his interview with LAist, Sarmiento said he was disappointed by what he called a lack of leadership from Supervisor Don Wagner, who chairs the board.

“As the chair of the board, that’s part of your role to make sure potential ethics violations and potential misuse of authority and funds are investigated thoroughly,” Sarmiento said.

For his part, Wagner told LAist he found the new calls for investigation by Sarmiento and Foley “unnecessary.” He added: “I don’t know that it’s particularly helpful. Bottom line is that the DA and the state investigative agencies are quite aware of this I’m sure and if they wanna do their investigations they can and if they don't that’s up to them.”

“I have heard that VAS has completed the audit," Wagner added. “I haven’t seen it. I don’t know what it shows but the county is moving forward on this. Either we get an audit that satisfies us or we demand the money and continue on the course we’re on."

Catch up on the investigation

In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money was approved to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do, the now 23-year-old daughter of Supervisor 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.

• Read the story that launched the investigation here.
• Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group was two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately.
• And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known . It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist.
• After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
• And, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
• On Aug. 2, LAist reported O.C. officials were demanding the refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
• Six days later, LAist reported Orange County officials had expanded demands for refund s of millions in tax dollars from the nonprofits and threatened legal action.

How to watchdog local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved .
• The next scheduled board meeting is Tuesday, TK. You can check out the O.C. Board of Supervisors full calendar here .
• Learn how to submit a public comment to the O.C. Board of Supervisors .