WESTWOOD—On Friday, January 23, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office disclosed that they charged Alexander Soofer, 42, the CEO of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings, with defrauding the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) of more than $5 million, approximately $2 million of which illegally went toward his own properties or was accounted for through fraudulent invoices between 2022 and 2024.
The United States District Attorney’s Office disclosed that Soofer fraudulently obtaining $23 million in public money intended to combat homelessness and pocketing at least $10 million of it, including using it for a $7 million house in Westwood, $125,000 Range Rover, private school tuition for his children, private jet travel, and stays at luxury resorts.
The charges were announced at a news conference with federal agencies announcing separate federal charges.
Soofer is charged in case 26CJCF00450 with 11 felony counts of conflict of interest, two felony counts of offering false evidence and five felony counts of forgery in connection with millions of dollars in contracts between LAHSA and Abundant Blessings.
“California is the poster child of rampant fraud, waste, and abuse of tax dollars,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “The state has facilitated the spending of billions of dollars to combat homelessness, with little to show for it and almost no oversight. Thankfully, the federal government has begun auditing California’s spending and today’s is just one example of how fraudsters have swindled millions of dollars from taxpayers. This money should have gone to those in need, instead in lines the pockets of individuals subsidizing their lavish lifestyle.”
The case was filed for warrant on January 22. The 11 conflict of interest charges stem from contracts between Abundant Blessings and LAHSA in which the contracts expressly stated that Soofer could not own the properties used to house homeless residents or subcontract with himself or family members with a financial interest in the properties or companies providing a service.
The stolen LAHSA funds were earmarked for Youth Homelessness, Bridge Housing, Winter Shelter, Home Safe, Inside Safe and other programs. Soofer also allegedly failed to provide shelter and nutritious meals per his contractual obligations.
Soofer made it falsely appear he was leasing properties for homeless housing from third-party landlords at a market rate, when he was instead paying himself above market rate and again misappropriating money that could have been used to help alleviate the homeless housing crisis.
To cover up the fraud, Soofer fabricated fake and misleading invoices – at times stealing the names, addresses, and logos of real companies – to make it appear that the vendor and rent payments were legitimate.
On June 30, 2024, Soofer allegedly provided fake subcontractor invoices to LAHSA with the names of real companies including Revolution Kitchen and Armed Elite Services. If convicted as charged, he faces 17 years and 6 months in custody, including state prison and county jail.
This case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Casey Higgins of the Public Integrity Division and remains under investigation by the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.
If convicted of wire fraud, Soofer would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
