The OC Board of Supervisors wants to know what legal means Orange County has for getting financial records from companies that are not producing records of how taxpayer funding was used.
The supervisors were updated on Tuesday, Aug. 25, on the latest phase of independent audits underway by accounting firm Weaver and Tidwell of contracts with links to former First District Supervisor Andrew Do.
Supervisor Janet Nguyen expressed frustration that businesses are still not providing receipts and other documents to show whether they delivered the services they were contracted to provide.
“There are so many gaps on here that we don’t have answers to,” she said. “This audit cannot become just another report that identifies missing documentation, questionable decisions and unverified payments only to have those findings disappear (without) a corrective action.”
The Aug. 12 audit report, which reviewed 681 high-priority contracts totaling $1.7 billion, was the second part of four audits ordered by the county into contracts from January 2019 to August 2025, starting with those Do had a hand in authorizing.
Do is serving a five-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2024 to accepting $550,000 in bribes to steer more than $10 million in COVID-relief funds to two nonprofits.
In all, auditors are expected to look at $4.3 billion worth of contracts issued by the County Executive Office, Health Care Agency, OC Community Resources and Social Services Agency.
Looking ahead to the next phases of the audit, Nguyen asked County Counsel Leon Page to clarify whether the board has the subpoena power itself, or the authority to give the auditors such power, to demand receipts, bank statements and other records from businesses that had contracts with the county. Nguyen also asked Page to explore taking legal action against businesses that refuse to produce the documents.
Nguyen highlighted several deals reviewed by auditors that she felt warranted more scrutiny, including a $500,000 contract the county awarded Bridgecreek Realty Investment Co., founded by prominent Little Saigon developer Frank Jao, to provide outdoor dining in Little Saigon during the pandemic. The company did not provide receipts showing how more than half the money had been spent, auditors said.
“Have you been to Asian Garden Mall?” Nguyen asked of one of the company’s largest projects. “There’s no patio there ever.”
She also noted Mercy Pharmacy, which invoiced the county $748,720 for providing COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021. The OC Health Care Agency paid for the vaccinations without the required supporting documentation, the audit reported.
“We can’t even identify who these individual patients are who got these vaccinations?” Nguyen asked.
Representatives with Bridgecreek and Mercy Pharmacy could not be reached Tuesday afternoon for comment.
Supervisor Katrina Foley said a positive takeaway from the audit is that the corruption seems to have been contained to Do’s office, rather than spread across county departments. She reiterated Nguyen’s call for the recovery of improperly used funds.
“We need to get reimbursed in full for any expenditures by the county to a vendor where they cannot prove that they used the money as expected,” Foley said. “That’s the least we should expect.”
Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said the board should continue exploring remedies or civil action aimed at “making the county whole.” He added that he would like to better understand the extent of the board’s subpoena and investigatory powers so that it can demand more answers from vendors.
“The District 1 office was the epicenter, but this (scheme) had relationships to others beyond the office, and that’s my concern,” Sarmiento said. “We need to ask: Who did or was aware because knowledge here is also acquiescence?”