Imperfect Paradise: Former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do is officially in prison. What questions remain?

California Love

LAist Studios

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4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Disgraced former Orange County supervisor Andrew Do reported to federal prison in Arizona on August 15th. Do had been found guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for directing millions of taxpayer dollars to a nonprofit that was supposed to be feeding hungry seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of those dollars were diverted elsewhere. Now that Do is in prison, LAist watchdog correspondent Nick Gerda joins us to discuss what questions still remain in the case, how much money is expected to be recovered and who else might be held accountable for the scandal.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for LAST comes from the Soraya, producing the West Coast premiere of Fiddler on the roof in Yiddish.
0:06.1	Enjoy a special concert production with English super titles featuring Tony nominee Stephen Skybell and award-winning Joel Gray.
0:13.0	Learn more at the Soraya.org.
0:16.1	Support for L.A.S. comes from Pasadena Playhouse presenting Eureka Day.
0:25.1	Jonathan Spector's Razor Sharp 2025 Tony Award-winning satire.
0:31.0	Eureka Day is on stage at Pasadena Playhouse beginning September 10th. Tickets are on sale now at Pasadenaplayhouse.org.
0:33.4	This is in Perfect Paradise. I'm Antoniazrijito.
0:36.9	So you might remember that my colleague here at L.A.S.
0:39.6	Nick Gerta came on the show last fall to talk about a huge investigation.
0:45.2	Orange County officials are suing a nonprofit at the center of a long-running L.A.S. Investigation
0:51.3	and Covado directed around around 13 million in taxpayer dollars.
0:55.7	There are now growing calls for him to resign before his term is even over.
1:00.8	This groundbreaking LAist investigation ultimately led to the revelation that former Orange
1:07.0	County supervisor Andrew Doe had accepted bribes in exchange for directing millions of taxpayer
1:12.9	dollars to a nonprofit that was supposed to be feeding hungry seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1:19.8	And millions of those dollars were diverted elsewhere.
1:23.5	Here's former U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, who handled the case talking about the charges against Joe.
1:29.3	The charges we announced today are very serious.
1:32.6	They involve a scheme to steal COVID-19 relief funds and to receive bribe payments.
1:40.0	The scheme essentially functioned like Robin Hood in reverse.
1:43.7	Mr. Doe and his conspirators stole money from the poor to give to themselves.
1:49.2	And this money was intended to provide meals to the people who needed them most in our community,
	...

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