Attorney General Rob Bonta Received Campaign Funds From Owners of Oakland Karaoke Bar Raided for Drug and Sex Trafficking

The Duong family's political donations have come under increasing scrutiny since the FBI raided the homes of David Duong and his son Andy Duong two weeks ago. The home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was also raided by federal agents the same day.

The Duongs, owners of California Waste Solutions, a curbside recycling company in Oakland, have donated millions of dollars to candidates for federal, state and local office over the past few decades.

They are also under investigation by the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the Oakland Public Ethics Commission for allegedly funneling money through “straw donors” to the committees of local politicians, including Oakland City Council members, who were able to vote favorably on contracts and other deals sought by the Doungs.

Today, some politicians who took the family's money are pledging to give it to charity.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta received $155,100 from the Duong family for his campaigns, but his team said they gave it all to charity “out of an abundance of caution,” according to ABC7. State Rep. Mia Bonta, who is married to Rob Bonta, also took money from the Duong family; her campaign plans to give it to nonprofit groups.

Oaklandside took a close look at campaign finance records dating back to 2013. We learned that the Bontas also received money from some of the same alleged donors that the Duongs allegedly used to illegally make campaign contributions to Oakland politicians.

“Small donors” are often friends, family, employees, or other associates of someone who wants to contribute to a candidate or campaign in amounts larger than allowed by campaign finance laws. They will ask people in their network to contribute smaller amounts out of pocket and then reimburse them later.

The Duongs' alleged donors include several men linked to the Music Cafe, a Chinatown karaoke bar that was busted in 2018 for selling cocaine and ketamine and trafficking people.

State campaign finance reports show that Rob Bonta took a total of $35,800 from Mon Kil Quan, the owner of the company that ran the Music Cafe and held its liquor license, and Charlie Ngo, a karaoke bar manager who was arrested in the 2018 raid. ARDA LLC, a company owned by Quan that ran the Music Cafe, also gave $1,500 to Bonta’s campaign in 2017. There is no indication that those donations were so-called straw donations.

In 2018, state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents were tipped off about allegations of drug sales and prostitution at the Music Cafe on 9th Street in downtown Oakland. After sneaking into the bar posing as customers, agents were able to purchase ketamine and cocaine, and struck a deal with one of the bar’s managers to take a young woman to the downtown Marriott Hotel for sex.

When ABC officers raided the bar in October 2018, they recovered thousands of dollars in cash, drugs and other evidence. Ngo was charged with possession and sale of ketamine.

Andy Duong was not named in the ABC report after the raid, and he has never been accused of any wrongdoing.

However, investigators with the state Fair Political Practices Commission wrote in a 2021 report that Duong had spoken about owning Sancha Bar, the tea shop and bakery that shared space in the same building as Music Cafe, and had also introduced himself to people as the owner of Music Cafe karaoke bar.

Ngo’s first contribution to Bonta was to his 2022 reelection campaign: He donated $500. Campaign records show the money arrived on Oct. 19, the same day Ngo donated $500 to Terry Wiley’s campaign for Alameda County district attorney.

It was also that day that the office of Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, where Wiley was an assistant district attorney, decided to dismiss the case against Ngo “in the interest of justice.”

Quan gave $16,200 to Bonta's 2022 re-election campaign and $18,200 last year to Bonta's 2026 re-election committee, according to state records.

When Mia Bonta was running for state Assembly in 2021, Quan contributed $9,800, state records show.

Rob Bonta and Mia Bonta's campaigns did not respond to interview requests today.

In response to questions about the money Rob Bonta’s campaign received from the Duongs, Nathan Click, a campaign spokesman, told Politico today that David Duong and Andy Duong were not particularly close to the Bontas. In response to a characterization Andy Duong made in a letter to his father about Rob Bonta as the Duongs’ “best ally ever,” Click said, “That was never true.”

The Bontas supported Sheng Thao early in the Oakland mayoral race, appearing at her campaign kickoff event on November 10, 2021. Thao is one of several Oakland city councilors whose campaigns have received thousands of dollars in contributions from alleged donors, which investigators have traced back to the Duongs.

In 2019, Quan donated $800 to Thao's officeholder committee and provided him with an additional $800 through a company he owned, Teamac Imports.

Oaklandside was unable to reach Quan and Ngo for this article.