An Oakland businessman and East Bay Democratic Party insider claims he was attacked in two separate incidents earlier this summer, including at the address of the office of recycling company California Waste Solutions.
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California Waste Solutions’ office and Mayor Sheng Thao’s home were the targets of a surprise FBI raid last week. Federal agents also searched the homes of the company’s owner, David Duong, and his son, Andy Duong.
Juarez’s attorney, Ernie Castillo, said these attacks were attempts on the life of his client, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported this story. Neither Castillo nor Juarez has shared a motive for the assaults. The attacks are being investigated by the Oakland police.
It’s unclear if there is any link between Juarez and the events of last week. However, records and online materials reviewed by The Oaklandside indicate that Juarez was in business with members of the Duong family in 2022 and that a potential business dispute may have preceded the alleged attacks and the FBI raids.
In September 2022, David Duong’s sister, Kristina Duong, set up a company called Evolutionary Homes LLC. The business shares the same mailing address as California Waste Solutions. Mario Juarez is named as an organizer of the company in state corporation filings.
The company appears to design and construct mobile homes. Its website lists David Duong as Chairman and Andy Duong as founder. A November 2023 Vietnamese news broadcast about Evolutionary Homes, which included a lengthy interview with David Duong, explained that the company aims to help solve California’s homelessness crisis.
David and Andy Duong have not responded to previous requests for an interview.
“Our construction to move in time is 6-8 months from order, which makes Evolutionary Homes a perfect solution for individuals in need,” the website states.
In December 2023, Juarez was interviewed by a representative of the Vietnamese American Business Association—a business networking group founded by and controlled by the Duong family. He introduced himself as a co-founder of Evolutionary Homes.
“A lot of government agencies, they’re interested in doing business with us. They’re doing business with us already,” Juarez said in the video. “And I think it has a lot to do also with the fact that we speak business to government and we have that level of experience working with government agencies.”
It’s unclear if Juarez is still associated with the company.
In January, Juarez was charged with felony fraud for allegedly passing bad checks to a mailing company. Prosecutors claim that Juarez hired the company Butterfly Direct Marketing to produce attack ads targeting Loren Taylor, who was running for mayor in 2022. Juarez’s checks for roughly $53,600 bounced for insufficient funds. Juarez’s attorney, Castillo, has said his client is innocent of these charges.
At some point, someone set up a website criticizing Evolutionary Homes—specifically David Duong.
“Unfortunately, David Duong has failed to meet his obligations towards his employees in Mexico, including non-payment of salaries and withholding of wages, resulting in their termination without any form of compensation and leaving with outstanding labor and tax debts,” the website says. “Such actions are unacceptable and violate basic ethical and legal standards.”
The website offers no proof for this claim and we were unable to locate any records about unpaid wage claims. The site includes a credit to an attorney named Diego Chavez. There is no Diego Chavez in the California State Bar, and we were unable to locate him.
The Evolutionary Homes LLC website also claims to employ Julie Wedge and Chris Wedge in “government relations.” The Wedges run a consulting firm near Sacramento that specializes in political and nonprofit compliance services. The Wedges declined to speak on record.
The company website also lists Henry Vo in “operations.” Vo is a project director for the Vietnamese American Business Association, a social networking organization the Duongs run based out of San Jose. Vo, who doesn’t list Evolutionary Homes on his LinkedIn page, appears to be a sales director for VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle company.
Mayor Thao spoke with executives from Vinfast on the government-sponsored Vietnam trip last summer.
In an interview with the Vietnamese-language YouTube channel Phố Bolsa TV at the time, Thao said that she had visited Vinfast’s Hanoi manufacturing plant to develop business relations that would benefit Oakland.
“It is our hope that VinFast will export their vehicles to the Port of Oakland. That’s something that we are very interested in,” she said.
In addition to her staff, Thao was accompanied by representatives from local banking institutions, including Erik Larsen from Umpqua Bank.
“This trip was an investment in Oakland’s future, by cultivating critical relationships that will grow our city’s economy,” Thao said at a meeting upon her return.
Cesley Frost is listed as a “developer.” Frost appears to be the chief of staff for Alameda County Supervisor Lena Tam. Last year, she was the assistant director of Bay Area Technology School. It’s unclear if she has any experience in development. Frost did not respond to a request for comment.
Ashley McBride, Jose Fermoso, Natalie Orenstein, Tasneem Raja, and Darwin BondGraham contributed to this report.
