A new independent audit on contracts linked to ex-Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do called out former OC Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau and former CEO Frank Kim for doing little to investigate staff concerns over potential conflicts with an organization employing Do’s daughter.
Based on the “seriousness” of the new findings, the county’s internal auditor referred companies Bridgecreek Realty Investment Co., founded by prominent Little Saigon developer Frank Jao, 360 Health and Mercy Pharmacy to the Orange County district attorney’s office for investigation, said Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Vicente Sarmiento.
Sarmiento said the auditor’s referral of Mercy Pharmacy “included information related to Dr. Chau.” Nguyen also said Do was referred to the Orange County district attorney.
The companies all had questionable contracts with the county during the pandemic and were unable to provide auditors with supporting documentation.
“It’s not a surprise as we continue to look into the next phase (of audits), we find more things. It will also allow us to put more policies and procedures into place. Nothing will be flawless … but we have to find a way to safeguard the future,” Nguyen said. “They scammed taxpayers in the most difficult time of their lives and no one’s accountable.”
The new report is the latest in a series of audits ordered by the county into contracts from January 2019 to August 2025, starting with those that Do played a part in granting. This audit reviewed 681 contracts totaling $1.7 billion.
Eventually, auditors are expected to look at contracts totaling $4.3 billion issued by the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency.
The audit by accounting firm Weaver and Tidwell said Chau repeatedly waved off staff concerns over contractors linked to Do. The report said Chau often responded that when he checked with the supervisor, Do denied any conflict or problems. The report also said Chau directed a lucrative COVID vaccination contract to a company he was friendly with.
Do is serving a five-year federal prison sentence following his guilty plea in October 2024 to accepting $550,000 in bribes to steer more than $10 million in COVID funds to certain nonprofits, primarily Viet America Society, which employed his daughter, Rhiannon.
Rhiannon Do received a high-paying job at Viet America Society plus $350,000 for a down payment on a $1 million North Tustin home. Do’s other daughter received $100,000 from Viet America Society.
Rhiannon Do was not charged; prosecutors allowed her to enter into a diversion agreement.
Besides working at Viet America Society, Rhiannon Do worked for the charity’s sister organization, Warner Wellness, a mental health clinic.
The new audit explored county contracts with the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, which subcontracted with Warner Wellness. Chau pushed county staff and contractors to use Warner Wellness, despite concerns by the alliance that Warner was inexperienced and by staff over a conflict between Rhiannon and Andrew Do, according to the audit.
Dr. Veronica Kelley, then Orange County’s chief of mental health and recovery services and now Health Care Agency director, had found online posts identifying Rhiannon Do as the head of Warner Wellness, the audit said.
Nevertheless, Chau verbally reprimanded an HCA staff member for bringing up the issue, stating that, “Supervisor Do was an attorney and he would know if there was a conflict,” the audit said.
After Chau dismissed the concerns, the report said Kelley went to former CEO Kim, who instead of reaching out to county counsel, contacted Do’s chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn. Wangsaporn incorrectly told Kim that Rhiannon Do no longer worked for Warner Wellness, the auditor said. Kim investigated no further, and county counsel did not learn of the alleged conflict until months later in November 2023, the audit said.
The alliance terminated its contract with Warner Wellness in June 2024 as outcry grew over Andrew Do’s diversion of pandemic relief funds. Months earlier, Warner Wellness was fired from its contract with the Orange County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which was operating the mental health WarmLine under a contract with the county. NAMI had hired Warner Wellness to serve Vietnamese-speaking callers.
Chau – under Do’s orders – also directed staff to pay a company that county employees suspected of double-dipping on charges for COVID testing, The Orange County Register has previously reported.
The audit found that vendor 360 Health Plan, doing business as 360 Clinic, apparently double-dipped on 1,574 claims to the county. While auditors found that the bulk of the 68,935 tests reported by 360 Clinic were performed, the report could not confirm that 2,646 tests, costing the county $132,300, were done.
Concerned about billings from 360 Clinic, county health care staff sought counsel from Chau. In an email obtained by The Orange County Register, Chau responded: “Just talked to Sup Do. We should pay 360 to fulfill our contractual obligations.”
Staff leadership sent a follow-up email to Chau, requesting confirmation that the payments should be made, but it went unanswered.
A whistleblower lawsuit filed last year accused 360 Clinic of scheming to illegally solicit kickbacks from doctors and defraud federal health programs. The suit by a former employee outlined the alleged plot to double-bill government agencies and collect kickbacks from doctors in exchange for referrals.
The COVID testing company was formed in 2020 – at the height of the pandemic – by Vince Tien, who ran a family-owned home nursing and hospice business, and his brother, Gary Nguyen, along with David Ngo, according to the suit.
The audit also examined Mercy Pharmacy, which contacted the county unsolicited on Dec. 29, 2020, to provide COVID vaccinations and was at work within days – without a county contract. Auditors noted there was no documentation on how the pharmacy was selected or any justification for the sole-source contract, which was not signed until Mercy had been working for four months.
“It is our understanding that Dr. Chau was friends with Mercy Pharmacy and wanted to use them because they do good work,” the audit said.
Invoices submitted by Mercy Pharmacy totaling $748,720 for vaccination services from January 2021 through June 2021 were approved by the health care agency and paid without the required supporting documentation, according to the audit.
Chau left the county in 2023 after three years at the helm of the Health Care Agency. He also served for a short time as the county’s health officer.
He did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment Wednesday morning.
Chau is credited with leading the county’s COVID response, even helping to administer vaccinations in the early days, and pushing back on blanket lockdowns, trying to balance efforts to curb the spread of the virus with helping businesses find ways to stay open and keep people employed.
He is now the chief medical officer of the National Healthcare & Housing Advisors group, according to the organization’s website. He is credited on that website with creating several pandemic initiatives, such as mega testing and vaccination sites and pioneering a street medicine program for the poor as part of the board of directors of CalOptima Health.
He was voted the Orange County Medical Association’s 2021 Physician of the Year.
Before coming to Orange County, Chau, who is a psychiatrist, worked as the regional executive medical director in Southern California for Providence Health System.
The audit also faulted Bridgecreek Realty Investment Co., part of the Huntington Beach-based Bridgecreek Development Group founded in 1978 by Frank Jao, who is widely credited with spurring development of Little Saigon in Westminster. The company built the Asian Garden Mall, the firm’s flagship, housing more than 300 shops.
According to the audit, Bridgecreek received $500,000 in small business funding from the county to provide outdoor dining in the Little Saigon business district during the pandemic. But Bridgecreek did not provide auditors with supporting documents on how more than half the money had been spent. Auditors also found $35,000 had been spent on previously purchased equipment for the Perfume River restaurant. Perfume River was affiliated with Peter Pham, president of Viet America Society and a defendant in the bribery case against Do.
Jao, Bridgecreek’s founder, did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment Wednesday morning.
In a statement, Third District Supervisor Don Wagner said he appreciated the work of Weaver and Tidwell and the Internal Audit Office “in uncovering potential additional abuses of taxpayers’ dollars in our county government.”
“The board and I want to ensure that we take all precautions to safeguard our county from this ever happening again,” Wagner added. “I look forward to continuing with Phase 3 of the forensic audit, ensuring that we have caught every malfeasance by Supervisor Do and any of his affiliates.”
Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley said she intends to investigate every finding revealed in the second phase of the audit.
“This forensic audit shows why I pushed for an independent review of county contracting and stronger safeguards for taxpayer dollars,” Foley said in a statement. “The most troubling findings continue to trace back to contracts connected to Andrew Do and his network, exposing deficiencies in oversight and accountability that the Board continues to address.”
Phase 2 of the audit “raised serious concerns about those in charge taking ethical violations seriously and their commitment to following best practices in the procurement process,” board Chair Doug Chaffee said in a statement.
“The county has implemented stricter oversight since this scandal emerged and will continue to implement safeguards that ensure ethical governance, protect taxpayer monies, and stronger accountability in contracting,” he continued. “These audits provide transparency into the misdeeds and offer recommendations for more oversight.”
Second District Supervisor Sarmiento said the audit continues to expose problems in the county’s contracting processes.
“While we have addressed many of these issues with changes in our procurement, the audit recommendations need to be considered for implementation,” Sarmiento said in a statement. “The continuing revelations in the report show us the importance of seeing this audit through to ensure we have made all the changes that are needed.”