SAN LEANDRO — The same criminal investigation that led Oakland’s former mayor to be charged with felonies has spread to San Leandro, where city officials have been ordered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to turn over numerous records in an apparent public corruption probe.
The federal investigation, which appears to be playing out in parallel between the two cities, became public in San Leandro on Jan. 15 when federal agents raided the home of City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, a known associate of the family at the center of the scandal.
Now, city officials must turn over records related to members of that family, including father-and-son defendants David and Andy Duong, along with the Vietnamese business association they led and an affordable housing project they attempted to launch in the Bay Area.
The family’s flagship business is California Waste Solutions, a recycling giant that has waste-management contracts with the cities of Oakland and San Jose.
In Oakland, the Duong duo are accused of working with an accomplice to bribe ex-Mayor Sheng Thao and her romantic partner, Andre Jones, so that Thao would appoint handpicked officials to key leadership positions and help the co-conspirators gain access to lucrative city contracts.
The subpoena in San Leandro, issued Jan. 14 and obtained by this news organization Friday, seems to follow the same investigative pattern. Thao, Jones and David and Andy Duong were indicted on Jan. 17.
Among the records sought are discussions between San Leandro city officials about possibly declaring a local state of emergency on homelessness — the key mechanism, prosecutors have alleged, in a plot by the Duongs to grab crucial public dollars for affordable housing.
Azevedo, a sheet-metal foreman who won election last year to a second council term, has repeatedly declined to comment on the FBI raid at his home, except to declare his innocence.
San Leandro City Council candidate Bryan Azevedo speaks to Hayward Area Democratic Club members during a Sept. 30, 2016 forum at the Eden Area Democratic Headquarters in downtown Hayward. (Darin Moriki/Bay Area News Group)
The fourth-generation San Leandro resident was friendly with Andy Duong, who personally courted Azevedo to join a delegation led by Thao to Vietnam in summer 2023 — a subject of interest in the federal subpoena.
The business trip was paid for by the Vietnamese American Business Association, a trade group led by the Duongs, who also donated to Azevedo’s political campaigns.
Later, Azevedo was among multiple council members who toured a showroom of the Duongs’ homebuilding company, Evolutionary Homes.
When the San Leandro City Council voted last June against declaring a state of emergency on homelessness, Azevedo cast one of the two dissenting votes.
The subpoena seeks records related to Evolutionary Homes employees, including David and Andy Duong; Cesley Frost; Julie and Chris Wedge and Mario Juarez.
The last representative, Juarez, is repeatedly referenced but not named in the Oakland indictment as a third co-conspirator who worked closely with the Duongs to establish Evolutionary Homes, and to allegedly bribe Thao to favor the company for city contracts.
A well-known political operative, Juarez had been charged by Alameda County prosecutors with felony check fraud for mailers he arranged to attack Thao’s opponents in the 2022 election. But a judge dismissed Juarez’s case last week, citing in part a lack of evidence.
Attempts to reach Azevedo and other San Leandro officials for comment were not immediately successful Friday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland who can be reached via call or text at 510-905-5495, or via email at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter who can be reached via call, text or a Signal encrypted message at 510-390-2351, or via email at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
