Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled in November and whose home was raided by the FBI last year, has been criminally indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery, corruption, and fraud charges, federal officials announced on Friday.
Charged alongside her was her longtime boyfriend, Andre Jones, as well as David and Andy Duong, owners of a local recycling company, California Waste Solutions.
“The indictment returned by the grand jury describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud, and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government,” said Patrick Robbins, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, during a news conference.
Robbins declined to comment on whether there would be more indictments in connection with the case.
Robbins alleged that in October 2022 Thao had agreed to extend a city contract with the Duong’s company, California Waste Solutions, buy housing from the Duongs, and use her influence to help them in exchange for a campaign mail effort and side payments that would benefit her and her boyfriend.
California Waste Solutions then spent $75,000 on an attack mailer that slammed Thao’s opponents in a very close 2022 mayoral race. After Thao won the election, the company paid Jones $95,000 for a “no-show” job and promised the political couple even more money in exchange for Thao’s influence to help the company secure lucrative city contracts, according to the indictment.
Thao faces six charges, including bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. She, along with Jones, and the Duongs are scheduled to be arraigned at the federal courthouse in Oakland later on Friday.
“The public needs to know it can trust those in charge of City Hall to work for the best interests of the people of Oakland,” Robbins said. “This public trust is broken when elected officials agree to a pay-to-play system to benefit themselves.”
Winston Chan, Andy Duong’s lawyer, told the Washington Examiner: “Our client and friend, Andy Duong, is innocent of the charges. We have kept quiet despite the media frenzy of the past months in the hope that the government would correctly come to see through objective investigation that the allegations are baseless, and being fanned by nothing more than gossip and supposition stitched together by the fabrications and delusions of those who lack all fundamental credibility. But disappointingly, Andy instead is today the most recent in a long line of Asian Americans who unfairly are singled out and forced to pay a price for daring to be active in the political sphere. We look forward to clearing his good name before the court and a jury of his peers.”
Thao was elected mayor in November 2022 and became the first Hmong American to lead a major city.
Frustrated voters in Oakland chose to oust her two years later, making her the nation’s first mayor of a major city in more than a decade to get the boot.
Thao faced criticism almost immediately after taking office for firing popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. Adding to her woes was the June FBI raid on her home and her response to it.
Claiming her innocence, Thao publicly demanded the FBI announce she was not the target of a corruption investigation. The federal agency refused to do so.
“I have done nothing wrong,” she said at a press conference the day after the raid. “I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me. I will not be charged with a crime because I am innocent.”
Her attorney, Tony Brass, almost immediately dropped her as a client, citing a difference of views. A day later, Francis Zamora, Thao’s chief of communications, announced his resignation.
At the time, the FBI also conducted raids on three properties associated with the politically influential Duong family. Federal agents also seized phones belonging to Jones.
A federal grand jury issued a subpoena demanding all “documents and communications” related to Jones, as well as “calendar entries or records” of meetings involving Thao or Jones starting in June 2022. The subpoena also sought documents related to the Oakland Army Base and Evolutionary Homes, a joint venture involving the Duongs and a man named Mario Juarez, who has been accused of breaking the law to help Thao win her mayoral election.
In November, the city released a trove of documents that showed Evolutionary Homes lobbied for $90 million in city funding and that Thao had used her political clout to help the company secure it.
Evolutionary Homes was a short-lived venture, and the company quickly collapsed over internal problems.
Records released by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office showed that during Thao’s 2022 mayoral campaign, Juarez created and solely funded an independent expenditure campaign that spent more than $100,000 on flyers attacking Thao’s opponents. He pleaded not guilty to a charge that he passed more than $50,000 in bad checks that were supposed to pay for the postage cost of the flyers. It is believed that the bad checks are what led to a wider investigation into Thao and her associates.
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Edward Escobar, founder of Citizens Unite, which spearheaded the campaign to oust Thao, told the Washington Examiner the indictment “underscores the critical importance of accountability in our public institutions.”
“This indictment serves as a wake-up call for political leaders who have strayed from representing the will of the people,” he said. “It underscores the critical need for integrity, accountability, and transparency in governance. Now is the moment for our leaders to refocus on their duty to the public.”
