Oakland’s woke former Mayor Sheng Thao has been criminally indicted in an FBI corruption probe just months after she was recalled from her position over the city’s spiraling crime.
Thao was at the center of an FBI investigation that centered on the city’s relations with the powerful Duong family, which operates its curbside recycling program, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
It is unclear what exactly Thao has been charged with, but the indictment indicates that grand jurors who have been hearing evidence at a federal court in San Francisco were persuaded by prosecutors that there was enough evidence to bring Thao to trial.
Others were also criminally charged in the indictment, a source familiar with the case told the Chronicle.
It comes just over six months after FBI agents were seen raiding Thao’s home.
The agents were also seen carrying out searches at two homes owned by members of the Duong family that owns the recycling company Cal Waste Solutions.
The firm has been investigated over campaign contributions to Thao and other elected city officials, the local news outlet Oaklandside reported in 2020.
One of the properties is owned by Andy Duong and the other is connected to David and Linda Duong.
Oakland’s woke former Mayor Sheng Thao has been criminally indicted in an FBI corruption probe
Thao was at the center of an FBI corruption probe that centered on the city’s relations with the powerful Duong family, which operates its curbside recycling program
Mario Juarez now stands accused of breaking the law while trying to help Thao win the mayoral election in 2022
The family also organized a trade delegation trip to Vietnam with Thao last year.
As part of the raid, federal agents seized a phone belonging to her and her partner Andre Jones, as well as the then-mayor’s cellphone and her personal computer.
Within five days, a federal grand jury also issued a subpoena to the Bay Area city that demanded all ‘documents and communications related to Andre Jones’ be turned over.
It also asked for documents related to Evolutionary Homes, a venture to build container homes involving the Duongs and Mario Juarez – who now stands accused of breaking the law while trying to help Thao win the mayoral election in 2022, according to the Chronicle.
Additionally, the grand jury requested all ‘calendar entries or records’ of meetings that included either one of the two since June 2022 – five months before Thao was even elected.
Jones had previously been publicly accused of corruption by Thao’s ex-chief of staff, Renia Webb, who did not offer any specifics at the time.
Yet Thao repeatedly claimed she was not the target of the investigation and denied any wrongdoing.
In an interview with the Chronicle weeks before the November recall vote, Thao even demanded the FBI tell the public she was not the target of the probe.
Thao’s boyfriend, Andre Jones (pictured top left), was publicly accused of corruption by the mayor’s ex-chief of staff, Renia Webb, who did not offer any specifics at the time
The indictment comes just over six months after FBI agents were seen raiding Thao’s home
Federal agents seized a phone belonging to her and her partner Andre Jones, as well as the then-mayor’s cellphone and her personal computer
‘When they came to my house at about 6am, they came in with long guns, they came in with Glocks, they came with the battering ram ready to break down the doors into a sitting mayor’s house,’ she recounted.
‘It was just complete overreach,’ she insisted. ‘I am innocent. The FBI agents have told my attorney that I am not the target of the investigation.’
A spokesperson for California Waste Solutions has since told the Chronicle that the company ‘understands that it has not been charged and is confident that it has not engaged in any wrongdoing relating to Ms. Thao or anyone else.’
Meanwhile, an attorney for Andy Duong, the son of California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong, declined to comment.
But the city’s Public Ethics Commission has been investigating the Duong family for allegedly using straw donors to give money to politicians.
It released hundreds of documents in November showing that representatives for Evolutionary Homes lobbied for $90million in city funding so that it could build 300 tiny homes out of shipping containers, the Chronicle reports.
Emails then showed Thao directly tried to assist the venture, which was headed by Juarez and Kristina Duong, David’s sister and the CFO of California Waste Solutions, before the company collapsed, both major donors to her campaign.
Juarez had even created and solely funded an independent expenditure campaign that spent more than $100,000 on flyers attacking Thao’s opponents during the 2022 race, and pleaded not guilty earlier this year to a charge that he passed more than $50,000 in bad checks that were supposed to pay the postage cost of the flyers.
Thao repeatedly claimed she was not the target of the raid
Earlier this week, federal agents also raided the home of San Leandro Council Member Bryan Azevado, who is also connected to the Duong family.
In August 2023, he and Thao were part of a delegation of elected officials to Vietnam on a trip organized and sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association – headed by David Duong.
He has denied any wrongdoing, and it was unclear Thursday night whether he was named in the federal indictment.