By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, right, listens to a question from the media during an election night gathering at Fluid 510 in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Oakland’s former mayor, Sheng Thao, has been indicted, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday morning at a San Francisco press conference. Three others—Thao’s romantic partner, Andre Jones, and a local father and son business duo, David and Andy Duong—were also named in the indictment.
All four face federal corruption charges that include allegations of bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and various other illegal practices, Patrick D. Robbins, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said.
Robbins said that Thao and her boyfriend faced allegations of knowingly entering into a scheme in which they would accept bribes from the Duongs, thereby allowing the Duongs to illegally influence local government. Federal prosecutors allege that Thao promised to extend the City of Oakland’s contracts with the Duong’s recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in return for financial benefits. Robbins said the alleged scheme began in October 2022, before the November 2022 elections.
Detailed among the alleged illegal payments from this alleged financial arrangement are a $75,000 payment for a negative mailer campaign meant to target Thao’s 2022 mayoral election opponents, and a $95,000 “no-show” contracting job to Jones. A “no-show” job is a job wherein the person being paid is not actually expected to show up or work. Such arrangements can be found in political or corporate corruption cases.
On June 20, 2024, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided Thao’s home and several other locations connected to Thao, Jones, and the Duongs. In November 2024, Thao was recalled from her position, following an Alameda County judge-led petition that garnered enough signatures to trigger a recall. Nikki Fortunato Bas, then-Oakland City Council president, has stepped in as interim mayor.
Thao, Jones, and the Duongs were slated to appear before an Oakland district court Friday morning at 10:30 a.m.