A sweeping federal corruption probe in California led to the arrest of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and several prominent business leaders, with the FBI now turning its attention to San Leandro City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, whose home was raided by federal agents in search of evidence that he was involved in the same scheme that led to Thao’s arrest.
For context, press coverage confirmed that Sheng Thao, the former Oakland, California, Mayor, was arrested alongside her partner and two local businessmen, David and Andy Duong, on January 17, 2025, after they ran an elaborate “pay-to-play” scheme that involved trading financial favors between the mayor and the Duongs’ businesses, which led to charges of bribery, conspiracy, and mail and wire fraud. City Councilmember Azevedo, who reportedly has ties to the Duongs, had his home raided on January 16.
Following the arrests, Internal Revenue Service Special Agent Linda Nguyen made a statement explaining the scandal’s impact, saying, “The alleged activities of the accused have led to a growing sense of distrust among taxpayers and elected officials.” Agent Nguyen added, “As alleged, David and Andy Duong used bribes to further the profitability of their business interests and to obtain undo influence over the appointment of high-level Oakland city officials.”
Furthermore, the investigation continued with a search of City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo’s home after it was confirmed on January 16, 2025, that Azevedo had ties to the Duongs and the former mayor. In response to the investigation, Azevedo stated, “There have been a lot of rumors recently tying me to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s alleged corruption scandal, and I want to set the record straight.”
Continuing to attempt to clear his name, Azevedo distanced himself from the allegations and pleaded ignorance, saying, “I don’t know anything about this alleged corruption, nor do I believe that we should assume that corruption has happened until the facts come out.”
Additionally, Azevedo later told ABC7 reporter Dan Noyes that he did not see a reason why his ties to the Duongs were a cause for suspicion, saying, “I mean, do you see anything wrong with that? See, as politics, since I come from construction, maybe, I don’t know. Maybe I’m a little naive on some things.”
In the same interview, Azevedo disclosed that he was concerned about being arrested after federal agents raided his home, saying, “My house was trashed. The garage was trashed,” and adding, “They took cell phones, laptops, and iPads.” In response, Noyes said, “Azevedo tells me he hasn’t retained an attorney yet, because they’re so expensive. He’s waiting to see if he’ll be arrested, and he has a timeframe. He counted the days between the FBI raid at Sheng Thao’s house and when she was indicted.”
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Near the conclusion of the interview, Azevedo expressed regret for having previously travelled with the Duongs and Thao to Vietnam. When Noyes asked him, “Looking back on all this, is there anything you would have done differently?” Azevedo responded, “Yes, I would have never went on the trip. I would have let somebody else. It’s been too much of a headache for me. It’s too controversial. I didn’t know all that was going on with Andy and all this. So, yeah, I wouldn’t have went if I had known, for sure.”
Watch Azevedo describe the raid on his home:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video