Homeless assist cash allegedly become lavish existence for two males

Two males face federal costs in separate circumstances linked to public homelessness funds in California. It comes at a time when homelessness continues to extend within the state.

Arrests made

Federal regulation enforcement arrested Cody Holmes, 31, on a number of costs. Holmes, who lives in Beverly Hills, served as chief monetary officer of Shangri-La Industries, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer of reasonably priced housing.

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According to officers, the California Department of Housing and Community Development paid Holmes’ firm practically $26 million in grant cash to develop properties for a program referred to as Homekey. That statewide program is designed to supply housing for folks experiencing homelessness.

The new housing was slated for Thousand Oaks, following tens of millions of {dollars} already spent on properties in close by San Bernardino and Monterey counties.

Instead, Holmes allegedly embezzled roughly $2.2 million of that cash by transferring it from a enterprise account to 1 he managed. He reportedly used it to pay for unique vehicles, a Birkin bag, month-to-month hire for a 6,500-square-foot mansion and extra.

“Accountability for the misuse of billions of tax dollars intended to combat homelessness starts today,” Bill Essayli, the performing United States Attorney for the Central District of California, mentioned in a press release.

In a separate case, Steven Taylor, 44, faces a number of costs of his personal, together with cash laundering.

Taylor, who lives in Brentwood, allegedly spent six years utilizing pretend financial institution statements and false money representations to get tens of millions of {dollars} in loans and contours of credit score to function his actual property enterprise.

He then used all that cash to purchase houses in quite a few areas, together with one in Cheviot Hills for $11.2 million. Taylor then allegedly bought that property for $27.3 million to a homeless housing developer.

That developer made the acquisition with public funds from town of Los Angeles and the state of California.

Taylor might see a most sentence of 30 years in jail if convicted. He’s at present free after posting a $3.6 million bond.

“In both of these cases, defendants took advantage of funds allocated to assist the homeless, some of the most vulnerable people in society and many of whom may be suffering from myriad conditions, including addiction,” Akil Davis, assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, mentioned in a press release.

California homelessness

The crimes come at a time when homelessness continues to rise. Recent data reveals homelessness elevated 3% statewide final 12 months in comparison with the 12 months earlier than.

That’s even with Los Angeles reporting a lower within the variety of homeless within the metropolis, though some query the methodology used to calculate that lower.

The state holds practically 1 / 4 of all homeless Americans, together with 44% of all of the “chronically homeless,” or those that have a incapacity and have been homeless for a very long time.

To fight these numbers, the state throws massive cash on the situation.

The state allocated $2.5 billion of taxpayer {dollars} to handle the problem in fiscal 12 months 2025, a major drop from the $6.8 billion spent the 12 months prior.

In addition to spending extra, the state should additionally enhance oversight on how the billions in taxpayer funding are doled out. 

A federal audit launched in August 2024 discovered California’s Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees homelessness spending, left practically $320 million in federal funding uncovered to fraud and abuse.

There’s additionally concern about decreased funding from the federal authorities below the Trump administration.

The Homelessness Fraud & Corruption Task Force hopes to get all that cash to the place it’s most wanted.

“Today’s actions show our commitment to ensuring the public that we will investigate missing funds that were intended to benefit some of the most vulnerable Californians,” Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office, mentioned in a press release.