Oakland corruption probe: Duong family supported Sheng Thao to rake in taxpayer funds, prosecutors say

OAKLAND — In a bombshell court filing, Alameda County prosecutors have accused a powerful Bay Area family of supporting Sheng Thao’s successful run for mayor in 2022 with the expectation that they’d get something in return: lucrative government contracts for their recycling company.

The motion, filed Monday, accuses the Duong family — owners of California Waste Solutions and subjects of a massive FBI corruption investigation that led to a series of raids last June — of supporting Thao’s candidacy to “win and preserve” their “valuable” contracts with the city of Oakland.

The court filing accuses the owner of ABC Security Service, a company contracted to patrol City Hall, of having a similar vested interest in a mayoral win for Thao, who was recalled from office last month.

The motion centers on a grand theft case against a political operative named Mario Juarez, a former candidate for Oakland City Council who is accused of bouncing checks for mailers designed to attack Loren Taylor, Thao’s biggest opponent in the 2022 election. Juarez’s lawyer has accused Pamela Price, the recently recalled district attorney, of filing the case as part of a failed $25,000 shakedown and to smear Juarez, who had run against Price for a seat on a local Democratic Party committee.

The motion suggests Juarez was a key player in a secret bid by California Waste Solutions and ABC Security Service to elevate Thao’s candidacy. The two companies — along with the Duong family itself — allegedly funneled more than $125,000 to Juarez over a three-day stretch in October 2022, just before Juarez sent thousands of mailers across the city targeting Thao’s opponents.

“These companies have valuable contracts with the city of Oakland, and an interest in the election of of then-candidate for mayor, Sheng Thao,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Kwixuan Maloof wrote in the motion. To that end, Maloof added that Juarez was “a conduit for these companies to help the mayor win and preserve and enhance the companies’ access to taxpayer-funded contracts.”

County prosecutors say after the 2022 election, the two companies funneled an additional $170,000 to Juarez after the November 2022 election.

As one example, the motion noted how two checks totaling $7,500 were written by Juarez to Thao’s longtime romantic partner, Andre Jones, immediately after the election. Jones met Thao while the two worked for Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan more than a decade ago. Jones later worked for the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control until 2021, but details of his employment since then are unclear.

Jones is among the numerous people linked to the public corruption investigation that has roiled Oakland’s political scene since federal agents on June 20 raided the home Thao shared with Jones, as well as the residences of David Duong and his son, Andy Duong.

Juarez’s mailers drew criticism as being racially charged, given how the face of Taylor, who is Black, appeared to be darkened. Another mayoral candidate, former Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente, was also targeted with an unflattering mailer.

Thao and her attorney, Jeff Tsai, did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment on this story. Jones’ attorney, Walter Riley, declined an interview request.Taylor said the contents of the DA’s filing marked “the first (time) that I’m hearing of allegations with evidence drawing connections” between Juarez, Jones and the Duong family. He declined to immediately comment further. A CWS spokesman said the company has not seen the filing and declined to comment.

ABC Security Service is owned and operated by Ana Chretien, an East Bay businesswoman who has had extensive business dealings with Juarez. She has a history of donating heavily to East Bay politicians — particularly during the 1990s and early 2000s — and her company has repeatedly won contracts to provide security guards for the city’s buildings. Most recently, the Oakland City Council approved a contract extension in September that called for ABC to receive up to $9.2 million through mid-2025.

Attempts by this newspaper to reach Chretien were not immediately successful Tuesday night.

Maloof’s motion further argues that the prosecution of Juarez should move forward as planned, but it also includes an equally explosive contingency: that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is too compromised to take over the prosecution without violating a state law intended to prevent conflicts of interests in prosecutions. Over the years, Bonta and Juarez enjoyed “close financial and political ties,” including in 2017, when Bonta helped secure a $3.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission for Viridis Fuels, a company co-owned by Juarez.

“They have publicly endorsed each other and have used the same office for their business dealings,” the motion said. “In local democratic political circles, the defendants and the Bontas’ extensive intertwined political and business dealings are widely known.”

The award came the same month that Juarez donated at least $5,000 to Bonta’s campaign for state assembly, the motion says.

Juarez’s attorney has not formally asked for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to be recused from the case. Even so, Price’s former office appears to be proceeding as though it’s at risk of being tossed off of it.

Juarez has accused Price of attempting to extort him for $25,000 in January, on the day the two attended the funeral for slain Oakland police Officer Tuan Le. In a sworn declaration included in Monday’s motion, Price’s bodyguard supported the denial that Price had discussed anything with Juarez that day. But the filing also contains a text message by Price where she reacts to the charges by calling Juarez a “MF” — an abbreviation for motherf—-er — and says that Juarez was “with us” the day of Le’s wake.

David and Andy Duong were both present at the meeting with Price after Le’s wake. The meeting occurred at the recycling company’s Oakland headquarters, which were also raided by the FBI on June 20.

Before he was charged with grand theft in early 2022, Juarez was running a website attacking Price and supporting her recall.

Maloof’s motion attempts to establish that the DA’s office was moving forward with charging Juarez well before the January meeting at CWS’ headquarters, but the case had “somehow fallen through the cracks.” Juarez’s lawyer has argued it was retaliatory for Juarez’s political activism.

The FBI raids came 11 days after Juarez’s home was shot up in what Oakland police have called a failed attempt to kill the political operative, who is widely believed to be cooperating with federal authorities.