HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — Orange County is suing a Huntington Beach nonprofit, claiming it misused millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds.
“I just think that’s outrageous,” said Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley, who’s demanding taxpayer money – intended to be used to help some of the county’s most vulnerable residents – be returned.
“We wanted to make sure that people who are food insecure had food,” Foley said.
The county filed a lawsuit against Viet America Society to recover more than $13 million in COVID relief funds they say were misused. The nonprofit was awarded the money through contracts to provide meals to elderly and disabled residents during the pandemic.
“They weren’t being used for that purpose, and they can’t prove that they were being used for that purpose,” Foley said.
The lawsuit claims Viet America Society, its officers and associates “brazenly plundered these funds for their own personal gain” between 2020 and 2023.
The lawsuit also claims the organization allegedly used the money to buy a home in Tustin as well as five other properties in Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Buena Park.
Several people are named in the lawsuit including Rhiannon Do, the daughter of Supervisor Andrew Do, who represents the district where most of the money was supposed to be allocated.
“The public trusts us with millions of dollars of their hard-earned taxes, and we need to be good stewards of those dollars,” said Foley.
Viet America Society could not be reached for comment Friday.
“That is about as egregious as you can get with misusing public funds,” Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said in a statement.
He added, “If the claims alleged in the complaints are true, Supervisor Do should consider stepping down. County residents deserve answers.”
Eyewitness News ran into Supervisor Do outside of the county offices and pressed him for comment on the lawsuit against his daughter. He responded by saying “no comment” before walking away.
In addition, the lawsuit stated on Sept. 27, 2023, VAS entered into an agreement with the county to design, construct and maintain a Vietnam War memorial at Mile Square Park.
VAS was paid $1 million for the project.
The suit stated, “Not only did Defendants conspire to defraud the County and its residents based upon nutritional services Contracts, but Defendants without justification failed to complete a Vietnam War memorial pursuant to contract, and flagrantly, egregiously, and maliciously breached its duties under all Contracts as identified in this Complaint.”
“We are now all burdened with having to respond to this, having to be focused on this issue and now our county staff are burdened because we need to review all of our contracts,” Foley said. “We need to make sure that nothing like this is happening in any of our other contracts.”
It will be up to Orange County District Attorney’s Office to determine if any crimes were committed.
Eyewitness News reached out to District Attorney Todd Spitzer, but he is not commenting.
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