A judge in San Diego is ordering the assets of the Viet America Society frozen following suspicions the group has misused funds intended for COVID relief, the Orange County Register reported.
The non-profit located in Orange County is caught up in a suspected scandal involving Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do who directed $10 million in funds to the non-profit.
Do has since been removed from his board committee assignments, but remains in office despite calls for his resignation after an FBI raid on his home. (Update: Andrew Do announced he would resign Tuesday morning, October 22.).
The order from the superior court judge is part of a civil lawsuit accusing the Viet America Society of embezzling funds for personal use.
Attorney Mark Rosen who is representing the group unsuccessfully argued the lawsuit should be set aside at least until the federal investigation plays out.
He says the accusations stem from “sloppy accounting” and not anything illegal. He says at most, “$25,000 $25,000 was not tracked,” not the at least $4.2 million the judge ordered frozen.
Last month the OC Register reported the Viet America Society had closed down.
“We’ve closed. I don’t have the money to pay for rent, to pay for anything,” Viet America Society President Peter Pham said.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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