Months after the FBI raided the home of embattled former Oakland, California Mayor Sheng Thao’s home, local reports now say that a federal grand jury had indicted her and her longtime partner, Andre Jones.
Last June, the FBI raised Thao’s home, taking away several boxes. That same day, agents raided the homes and businesses of multiple members of the Duong family, who own Cal Waste Solutions, an Oakland recycling contractor.
Federal investigators claimed that a California business owner used a karaoke-bar-turned-brothel to funnel thousands of dollars in campaign donations to Thao and other members of the city’s political class.
Andy Duong, whose family works as Oakland’s curbside recycling contractor, is accused of having surrogates shell out $18,000 to various political candidates from 2016 to 2018, according to court documents obtained by various Bay Area news outlets.
An undercover raid at the brothel back in 2018 led to three arrests over accusations of drug and human trafficking. A former manager arrested at the front business is one of the suspected “straw donors” in Duong’s alleged Democratic fundraising scheme.
Thao and Jones have both repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The then-mayor also stressed that she was not the target of any investigation.
She then publically criticized the FBI for the timing of the raid, noting it happened amid a growing push to recall her from office.
Thao was recalled in November.
Thao was elected mayor in November 2022 and became the first Hmong American to lead a major city. She faced criticism almost immediately after taking office for firing popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong. Frustrated voters, including the local NAACP, blamed Thao for a long list of city woes related to public safety, homelessness and the city’s budget.
Both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Mercury News reported that Jones has been indicted, citing sources familiar with or close to the subject.
However, the FBI has yet to confirm the reports.