Oakland Corruption Scandal: Democrat Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Government Officials Allegedly Funded by Sex Trafficking Drug Ring
An FBI raid has exposed a complex web of alleged illicit activities involving high-ranking government officials and a notorious local business in Oakland, California.
Andy Duong, a key member of the Duong family and the self-proclaimed proprietor of the now-defunct Music Cafe, is accused of using the cafe as a front for a sex trafficking and drug operation. This establishment, which also functioned as a karaoke lounge, was linked by state authorities to drug dealing, pimping, and human trafficking before its closure in early 2019, the Mercury News reported.
His Oakland Hills home was searched by federal authorities on June 20, along with residences belonging to his father David Duong and Mayor Sheng Thao, as well as the offices of California Waste Solutions.
Andy Duong has never been arrested or charged with a crime related to the 2018 Alcoholic Beverage Control investigation of the Music Cafe in Oakland’s Chinatown. The investigation of the cafe led to three arrests and two convicted of conspiracy and accessory charges.
A representative for the Duong family did not respond to specific questions about Andy Duong’s alleged ties to the 9th Street cafe, but in a general statement called the family “good citizens who always obey the law.”
“We believe that we have not engaged in or committed any illegal activities and are awaiting the decision of the law enforcement agency,” the statement said.
A man alleged to be a “straw donor” on behalf of the Duong family was arrested on suspicion of narcotics sales after a raid at the cafe.
Charlie Ngo, 35, the alleged “straw donor,” was among people who either managed, owned or were affiliated with the cafe who gave roughly $18,000, mostly to Oakland City Council candidates, between 2016 and 2018. All of them allegedly gave money on behalf of Andy Duong, who was accused of having “cash in a drawer in his CWS office” used to give to a person tasked with lining up straw donors, records filed by the Fair Political Practices Commission said. An investigation is ongoing.
Since 2019, Andy and David Duong have been under investigation by city ethics investigators for allegedly circumventing campaign finance limits by using several individuals and businesses to funnel money to candidates.
In a probable cause filing related to the straw donor investigation, Angela J. Brereton, chief of enforcement for the FPPC, wrote that Andy Duong “is affiliated with multiple businesses including … the former Sancha Bar/Music Cafe.”
Investigators with Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission wrote in a separate filing that it is “in possession of private messages in which Andy Duong holds himself out as the proprietor of the Music Cafe a/k/a Sancha Bar.”
Brereton wrote that state Assembly Member Ash Kalra told investigators that “Duong discussed his business, the Sancha Bar/Music Cafe. Kalra stated he understood Duong was an owner of this business.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/06/30/oakland-fbi-raid-subject-linked-to-establishment-suspected-of-human-trafficking-selling-drugs/