A California charity director was arrested and charged with wire fraud after allegedly using taxpayer money to fund his lavish lifestyle including a mansion and a Range Rover.
The suspect is identified as 42-year-old Alexander Soofer who was the executive director of Abundant Blessings which received government funds to operate and to feed the homeless community, Fox News reported Friday.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said the South Los Angeles organization’s purpose was to help people experiencing homelessness and the charity received over $23 million in taxpayer money.
However, Essayli said the state did little vetting when doling out the money. Soofer is also accused of providing fake invoices and giving the homeless Ramen noodles when he was supposed to make sure they had three nutritious meals a day.
In a press release regarding the case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said:
Soofer further failed to appropriately shelter and feed the homeless housing participants at his sites. After receiving hotline complaints and noticing discrepancies in Soofer’s billing and services, city and county investigators conducted site visits and found the only food items being served at these sites were things such as Ramen noodles, canned beans, and breakfast bars — which was in contrast to the three-meal-a-day commitment Soofer had made and for which the City of Los Angeles had paid.
Rather than providing the services for which he billed these public entities, Soofer pocketed at least $10 million. He used that public money for a down payment on his $7 million Westwood home, millions of dollars of upgrades to that home, private schooling for his children, lavish spending in Las Vegas, private jet travel, and stays at luxury resorts across the United States — from Hawaii to Florida. Soofer also appeared to use $475,000 to purchase a vacation property in Greece, sending this money to a Greek property developer.
Essayli said Soofer was “living the high life” while people were suffering and homeless. “People are literally dying, and this guy is out vacationing, buying homes, buying Range Rovers and going shopping,” he added.
If convicted, the suspect could face 20 years in federal prison.
In March, Breitbart News reported an audit found billions of dollars spent on the homeless in Los Angeles was unaccounted for, and months later the U.S. Department of Justice made two arrests of people accused of defrauding California’s homelessness program, Project Homekey.