San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo was charged on Tuesday with conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud and making false statements to federal investigators in connection with the corruption scandal that brought down former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.
Azevedo is accused of working to have San Leandro purchase housing units from a company in exchange for financial gain.
“Azevedo agreed to a deal in which he would receive a percentage of sales from any housing units the city purchased from the company,” KTVU reports.
Although the company is not named in the filing, it is reported to be Evolutionary Homes, owned by David Duong and family. The filing states that Azevedo also accepted an all-expenses-paid trip to Vietnam hosted by his co-conspirators in 2023. That same year, Thao and other local officials traveled to Vietnam on a trip paid for by the Duongs.
To conceal the kickbacks, Azevedo allegedly opened an LLC and a bank account in his wife’s name where the money would be placed. To streamline the housing development, he lobbied for an emergency shelter ordinance in San Leandro. That ordinance was opposed by then–City Manager Fran Robustelli.
Thao, her boyfriend Andre Jones, David Duong, and his son Andy Duong were all indicted on criminal charges earlier this year. Investigators say the Duongs funneled $95,000 to Thao and Jones as part of a pay-to-play scheme involving their other company, California Waste Solutions.
Read the latest developments from ABC News and the San Francisco Chronicle.