Recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and 3 others, longtime partner, father and son businessmen, indicted with bribery by feds

OAKLAND — Less than three months after she was recalled by Oakland voters in the 2024 November election, former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was indicted by a federal grand jury with bribery related charges along with three co-defendants, her longtime partner Andre Jones, a father and a son business partners David and Andy Duongs.

That grand jury indictment was returned and sealed by the federal court on January 9, 2025. The U.S. Department of Justice asked the court to unseal the indictment on January 17 when Thao and three co-defendants were arraigned at the U.S. District Court in Oakland.

All four defendants, Thao, Jones, David and Andy Duongs, pleaded not guilty at court hearings and were released on bonds on January 17, 2025.

Thao walked out the U.S. District Court building with her defense attorney Jeff Tsai after she made her initial court appearance. She stopped for a short time alongside Tsai for the news media without taking any questions.

"The case is built on allegations from unknown co-conspirators. We believe when the evidence is reviewed, it will show my client has committed no crime," Tsai made a statement on the federal courthouse steps. “The mayor looks forward to defending herself against these charges, showing that there is, in fact, no evidence to support these charges.”

The indictment charges each defendant with conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud. The investigation is a joint effort by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

39-year-old Thao served as the 51st Mayor of Oakland from January 2023 to November 5, 2024 when she was recalled by voters. She was the first Hmong American mayor of a major city in the United States and first Oakland Mayor to be recalled.

Thao was born in Stockton and moved to Oakland in her 20s. She first completed her associate degree at Merritt College in Oakland and later transferred to UC Berkeley where she earned her bachelor's degree in legal studies and a minor in city planning.

Thao worked for the At-Large Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan as her legislative assistant prior to running for District 4 City Councilmember and winning the seat in November 2018. She moved on running for the Mayor of Oakland in November 2022 and narrowly won by 682 votes over top mayoral candidate Loren Taylor who received most first-choice votes but lost in the rank-choice voting system. Thao took office on January 9, 2023.

Jones, co-defendant with Thao in the case, is Thao's longtime partner residing at the same house. According to the 22-page indictment, Thao and Jones were both benefited from multiple bribery deals between Thao and two Duongs, who co-owned a recycling company and a housing company, since October 2022 when Thao was running for the Mayor of Oakland until June 2204 when the FBI conducted raids on the residences of Thao and two Duongs related to the latest indictment unsealed on January 17, 2025.

David Duong is the President and CEO of a recycling company, California Waste Solutions Inc., which has received public contracts providing residential recycling collection services to Oakland households and the South Bay communities. He is also the Chairman and co-owner of a housing startup, Evolutionary Homes, which was formed in 2022 to develop and manufacture prefabricated modular homes as homeless shelters.

Andy Duong is the son of David Duong. He works at his father's recycling company and serves as the co-owner of the housing company.

The Duong family members are Chinese Americans from Vietnam. The indictment alleged that no later than October 7, 2022 when Thao was running for Mayor of Oakland, Thao committed to take official acts that would benefit Duongs' housing and recycling companies if she was elected. "As part of the defendants' corrupt agreement, Recycling Company sent $75,000 for the purpose of designing, printing, and circulating the negative mailers in support of Thao's campaign."

"Thao agreed to use her position as mayor to cause the City of Oakland to purchase housing units from Housing Company, to ensure an extension of Recycling Company's contract with the City of Oakland, and to give D. Duong, A. Duong, and Co-conspirator 1 influence over the appointment of city officials," the indictment wrote.

"In exchange for these commitments, Thao and Jones received benefits from D. Duong, A. Duong, and Co-Conspirator 1, including a negative political mailer campaign funded by Recycling Company to help Thao's mayoral campaign and a promise of $300,000 in direct payments to Jones in the guise of a no-show job meant to benefit Thao and Jones," the indictment noted.

After Thao won in the November election 2022, Duongs began sending cash payments to Jones in the amount of $2,500, $5,000, $20,000, or $35,000 each time starting December 2022 to November 2023 for a total of $95,000 in a year.

On March 9, 2023, Thao asked for additional money upfront in furtherance of the bribery scheme and the parties discussed an updated arrangement whereby Jones would receive up to $3 million dollars, instead of the $300,000 as originally agreed, if Oakland purchased 300 housing units from Duongs' housing company, the indictment alleged.

In late July to early August 2023, a business association with close ties with Duongs hosted a trade delegation trip to Vietnam. Thao and her partner Jones as well as both Duongs joined the delegation with a number of other public officials.

The Port of Oakland reimbursed the business association for a portion of the expenses for Thao. Other costs were paid by sponsors associated with the business association.

The indictment alleged that Thao also benefited from the $95,000 payments to Jones from December 2022 to November 2023. "Financial records indicate that from approximately December 2021 through April 2022, Thao paid the monthly rent for Thao and Jones' shared residence. From approximately May 2022 to December 2022, before Jones began receiving payments as a result of the bribery scheme, Thao and Jones both contributed to the monthly rent payments. Starting in January 2023, soon after Jones began receiving payments from Co-Conspirator 1, and through at least June 2024, Jones paid the entirety of their rent."