Santa Ana, California – The founder of a shuttered nonprofit and an alleged co-conspirator have been indicted on a series of federal charges accusing them of bribing former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Hoang Do to steer $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds into their hands during the height of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
Peter Anh Pham, 65, of Garden Grove, and Thanh Huong Nguyen, 61, of Santa Ana, are facing charges ranging from wire fraud to money laundering and bribery, with prosecutors alleging that they exploited emergency public health funding meant to aid vulnerable communities. Pham, currently a fugitive, founded the nonprofit Viet America Society (VAS) days after Do approved a $5 million allocation to a county nutrition program. The indictment alleges that he, along with Nguyen’s organization Hand-to-Hand Relief (H2H), diverted millions of public dollars into personal accounts, real estate, and debt repayments.
At the center of the case is Andrew Do, who served on the Orange County Board of Supervisors from 2015 until his resignation in October 2024. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bribery and is expected to be sentenced on June 9. Prosecutors say Do used his influence and budgetary authority to direct funds to VAS and H2H in exchange for bribes masked as payments to his daughters and associates…