Prosecutors allege<\/a> he used a fake board and a shell construction company to siphon taxpayer money from LAHSA into buying a $7 million Westwood house, a $125,000 Range Rover, private school tuition, private jet travel and luxury resort stays. Soofer has pleaded not guilty. When LAist reached him by phone, he declined to comment for this story, citing the ongoing case. He agreed<\/a> to pay LAHSA $1.25 million, without admitting wrongdoing.<\/p>\n LAHSA is a joint city-county agency, overseen by a 10-person governing commission that is half appointed by L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and half appointed by each of the five county supervisors. Bass appointed herself to the commission in fall 2023 after winning an election where she promised voters that solving homelessness would be her top priority<\/a>. She is the only elected official on the commission.<\/p>\n Learn the ins and outs behind L.A.’s housing crisis.<\/p>\n Sign up for Building Your Block, a seven-issue newsletter course from LAist that explains the obstacles around housing development in L.A. and what you can do to make things better.<\/p>\n A headshot of Alex Soofer posted by federal prosecutors on the social media site X. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli via X<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n The records show that in 2024, LAHSA’s leadership at the time kept steering taxpayer dollars to Soofer’s group well after major red flags emerged. The agency continued awarding new six- and seven-figure contracts even after it formally designated the nonprofit as delinquent<\/a> and “High-Risk.”<\/a> They also show auditors found LAHSA broke federal law<\/a> by taking eight months to alert federal funders<\/a> after obtaining credible evidence of possible crimes.<\/p>\n LAist obtained the documents through public records requests this year that produced more than 7,000 pages of records.<\/p>\n Among what LAist found in the records:<\/p>\n By spring 2024, a warning was flagged high-up at LAHSA, according to records<\/a> and a senior official at the time.<\/p>\n Even after that, millions of dollars in new contracts continued to be awarded to the group.<\/p>\n The \u2018High-Risk\u2019 warning \u2014 and then approval of millions more dollars<\/b><\/p>\n The warning was direct. On May 6, 2024, LAHSA\u2019s top two compliance officials issued a \u201cdelinquency notice\u201d<\/a> to Soofer declaring Abundant Blessings to be \u201cHigh-Risk\u201d<\/a> and citing “significant concerns.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The nonprofit, they wrote<\/a>, had failed to follow key requirements on four contracts that were examined, including billing and getting paid the previous year despite not reporting that they had served anyone.<\/p>\n The delinquency concerns were flagged up the chain at the time to Janine Trejo, LAHSA\u2019s chief financial officer who oversaw compliance and contracting, according to Amy Williams, who co-authored the delinquency notice as LAHSA\u2019s director of compliance at the time. <\/p>\n Janine Trejo, LAHSA’s former chief financial officer, speaks at a LAHSA Commission meeting on April 25, 2025.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Samanta Helou Hernandez<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n LAist<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n A few weeks later, Trejo was CC\u2019ed on a staff recommendation<\/a> from the administration of LAHSA\u2019s then-CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum for LAHSA\u2019s governing commission to authorize more<\/a> than<\/a> $2 million in contract renewals<\/a> to Abundant Blessings, using county funds, for the next fiscal year as part of a larger set of approvals. The recommendation did not note the known concerns.<\/p>\n The contract renewals came up for a vote at the LAHSA Commission meeting on May 24, 2024 \u2014 a couple of weeks after the \u201cHigh-Risk\u201d letter was sent to Soofer. Trejo was among the executives who spoke to commissioners when it was up for approval.<\/p>\n A commissioner asked<\/a> how LAHSA is providing oversight to ensure people received the services that the agency was paying for.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWhat we’ve heard, in at least one case, is that people aren’t getting the services that on paper they are told \u2014 and we are told \u2014 they are supposed to be getting,\u201d said county supervisor and then-LAHSA Commissioner Lindsey Horvath. She was referring to complaints about a different nonprofit where the husband of the agency\u2019s CEO at the time, Adams Kellum, worked as an executive<\/a>.<\/p>\n A LAHSA staffer, sitting next to Trejo, responded by reassuring commissioners that LAHSA monitors how providers are performing.<\/p>\n The concerns about Abundant Blessings were not noted by Trejo or anyone else during the discussion, according to the meeting video<\/a>.<\/p>\n In response to the staff\u2019s recommendation, the commissioners voted to authorize Adams Kellum to finalize the $2.6 million in contract renewals to Abundant Blessings.<\/p>\n Va Lecia Adams Kellum, former CEO of LAHSA, speaks during a press conference on Monday, July 14, 2025, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Luke Johnson\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Asked about how LAHSA handled red flags surrounding Soofer, Williams said the delinquency concerns were not treated by her superiors \u201cwith the gravitas that it needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams added that Trejo \u201cwas not very well-seasoned\u201d when Adams Kellum placed her in LAHSA\u2019s top finance job. Trejo \u201cgot thrust into this position as the CFO\u201d with much more responsibility than her previous position, Williams added.<\/p>\n Trejo and Adams Kellum have not responded to requests for comment. Spokespeople for LAHSA have not answered whether Adams Kellum or LAHSA\u2019s governing commissioners were told at the time of the delinquency concerns with Abundant Blessings, before they acted to award the group millions in additional contracts. Bass\u2019 office told LAist she and her staff were not aware at the time.<\/p>\n Williams also said it was unclear why Abundant Blessings got new work out of the roughly 100 service providers LAHSA was working with at the time. Abundant Blessings was \u201cnever seen as a stellar agency, like the top agencies that really get the work done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201c[Soofer] got by us with a few things, and I think he got really emboldened and started trying to do even more,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n An LAist review of LAHSA records shows Trejo, LAHSA\u2019s chief financial officer at the time, did not describe herself as having the education or experience listed in LAHSA\u2019s qualifications for the job. The job description called for<\/a> a \u201cbachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, management, with an MBA and\/or CPA\u201d and minimum class units in accounting<\/a>. Trejo\u2019s resume<\/a> and cover letter<\/a> list no such education, saying she has a bachelor\u2019s in cultural anthropology<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trejo remained LAHSA\u2019s chief financial officer until she left the agency late last month after being on leave for much of this year. LAHSA spokespeople declined to comment on why she was on leave. LAHSA human resources records, obtained by LAist, through a public records request, show<\/a> multiple employees, including at least one subordinate, complained about how Trejo was treating them. It\u2019s not clear whether the complaints or investigation are related to Trejo\u2019s leave.<\/p>\n An outside review commissioned by LAHSA<\/a>, conducted this spring and dated this month, found its finance and payment processes continued to be \u201cfragmented\u201d and rife with \u201cbreakdowns\u201d that have made it time-consuming for LAHSA itself to even know how much it\u2019s paid individual vendors.<\/p>\n Trejo was selected as CFO, where she oversaw LAHSA\u2019s compliance team, by Adams Kellum. She was promoted after Adams Kellum fired LAHSA\u2019s prior CFO, whom LAHSA later agreed to pay $450,000<\/a> to settle claims<\/a> that included allegations Adams Kellum was hiring under-qualified friends into high level roles.<\/p>\n Bass\u2019 office also directed new funds after \u2018High-Risk\u2019 letter<\/b><\/p>\n The May 2024 LAHSA Commission vote wasn\u2019t the only granting of new dollars to the group after the letter raised red flags.<\/p>\n On June 7, 2024 \u2014 a month after the \u201cHigh-Risk\u201d letter \u2014 the mayor\u2019s office instructed the city to fund a new LAHSA contract with Abundant Blessings<\/a> for Bass\u2019 main homelessness program, Inside Safe \u2014 a program Adams Kellum had designed at the mayor\u2019s request<\/a>.<\/p>\n Adams Kellum\u2019s signature finalized<\/a> that contract later in June for about $250,000, for about a month and a half of security, food and other services at two motels in the city.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Bass said the mayor and her office were \u201cabsolutely not\u201d aware of any potential misconduct by Abundant Blessings at the time they directed the funding. The letter directing the funding<\/a> was signed by Bass\u2019 chief homelessness official at the time, Lourdes Castro Ramirez. Castro Ramirez told LAist she was \u201cnot aware of any concerns\u201d regarding Abundant Blessings at the time.<\/p>\n Asked if LAHSA leadership should have told the mayor\u2019s staff, Bass\u2019 office replied: \u201cYes. And to reiterate, the Mayor does not tolerate fraud or corruption in any form.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear what expectations, if any, the mayor had previously set for Adams Kellum or LAHSA to notify her office about known concerns with vendors being considered for additional funding. Bass\u2019 office has not responded<\/a> to a follow-up question about this.<\/p>\n Bass\u2019 office chose Abundant Blessings from a list of previously-approved, competitively-chosen service providers \u201cthat LAHSA had indicated had the capacity,\u201d said Ahmad Chapman, a spokesperson for the current LAHSA administration headed by Interim CEO Gita O\u2019Neill.<\/p>\n As for why LAHSA told the mayor\u2019s office that Abundant Blessings had capacity to take on more Inside Safe sites \u2014 despite the red flags \u2014 Chapman said in a statement: \u201cAt the time, LAHSA’s structure hindered internal communications regarding Abundant Blessings, leading to an errant contract recommendation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLAHSA has since undergone several structural changes,\u201d said the written response, issued last month. Those changes, according to the statement, include \u201cconsolidating key departments and implementing protocols to ensure any high-risk provider is flagged agency-wide and to key funders to reduce the threat to public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n The taxpayer money Bass\u2019 office directed in June 2024 was supposed to help people living at two motels in El Sereno and Boyle Heights, records show. The contract required Abundant Blessings to provide 24\/7 security, twice-daily welfare checks and three daily meals, among other services.<\/p>\n That month, the nonprofit fed instant ramen to people staying at the two Inside Safe motels, a violation of the contract, according to the federal criminal complaint<\/a> against Soofer. During that same month, prosecutors say<\/a> he \u201cand his family spent more than $100,000 on what appears to be personal expenses, including more than $47,000 in luxury home purchases,\u201d $15,000 each at luxury retailers Hermes and Chanel and $4,500 \u201cfor a four-night stay at the Wynn Las Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n A screenshot of the federal criminal complaint showing retail website photos of the $1,400 sandals they allege Alex Soofer and his wife bought with tax dollars.<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Criminal complaint from the U.S. Attorney’s office<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Food quality at Inside Safe sites was previously flagged as a concern by advocates. A little over a year earlier, a group called Inside Starving held a news conference urging the mayor<\/a> to address what they alleged was inadequate food.<\/p>\n In July 2025, just over a year after directing further funds to Abundant Blessings, Adams Kellum stepped down as LAHSA CEO<\/a> to public praise from Bass<\/a>, who celebrated Adams Kellum\u2019s leadership. Adams Kellum announced her plans to resign several months earlier<\/a>, in the wake of county leaders deciding to pull out all county service dollars from LAHSA<\/a> because of oversight concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you so much Mayor Bass! It has been the honor of my life to serve under your leadership,\u201d Adams Kellum wrote to Bass in April 2025<\/a>, days after announcing her plans to step down.<\/p>\n Yet more red flags, and then more contracts<\/b><\/p>\n More red flags emerged the month after Bass\u2019 office directed the Inside Safe contract.<\/p>\n In mid-July 2024, L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia\u2019s office notified LAHSA it was launching a fraud investigation<\/a> into Abundant Blessings, after a site visit found the group was serving almost entirely instant ramen noodles at the two Inside Safe motels.<\/p>\n LAHSA also received a demand that month from an apartment complex owner who said Abundant Blessings had failed to pay them about half a year of rent for 10 people, according to later written findings by LAHSA<\/a>, which say the allegations were verified.<\/p>\n How to keep tabs on what happens next\u00a0<\/p>\n And on July 30, 2024, LAHSA emailed Abundant Blessings a report<\/a> laying out further “significant” concerns<\/a> from their compliance review looking back well over a year. Those concerns included a \u201cmisallocation\u201d of about $700,000<\/a>. And for the entire 2023 calendar year on a contract, the report says<\/a>, “there were no enrolled participants to provide financial assistance to, but throughout that period, [Abundant Blessings] continued to bill for costs.”<\/p>\n Adams Kellum was CC\u2019ed<\/a> on the email flagging those concerns.<\/p>\n New commitments of public money kept getting approved.<\/p>\n In the first half of August 2024, LAHSA finalized five contracts and renewals with Abundant Blessings, totaling more than $3 million, according to a list LAist obtained from LAHSA<\/a> through a public records request. Adams Kellum\u2019s signature executed<\/a> the<\/a> four<\/a> agreements<\/a> that have been disclosed so far by LAHSA. LAist has an outstanding request for the fifth.<\/p>\n Among the contract finalizations was one<\/a> on Aug. 15, 2024, that increased the Inside Safe contract with Abundant Blessings by about $770,000<\/a>, to extend it for three months<\/a>. The contract records show Adams Kellum\u2019s signature finalizing it<\/a> and Trejo\u2019s signature<\/a> under the words \u201cApproved Generally by.\u201d<\/p>\n Failure to promptly report credible evidence of possible crimes, per auditors<\/b><\/p>\n By Aug. 23, 2024, LAHSA had obtained credible evidence of possible federal crimes, auditors later found<\/a>. Federal law requires LAHSA to \u201cpromptly\u201d report that to its funders at the federal housing agency HUD and its watchdog arm, the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG), auditors wrote<\/a>. But LAHSA failed to do so, the audit found<\/a>.<\/p>\n The disclosure was \u201cnot made until approximately eight months after LAHSA first obtained credible evidence of the suspected violations,\u201d the audit states<\/a>. The disclosure was made on April 25, 2025, per the audit.<\/p>\n “LAHSA did not have formal policies and procedures in place to guide the timing and process for making [the] mandatory disclosures\u201d required by law, the auditors wrote.<\/p>\n LAHSA\u2019s management wrote<\/a> that they did not disagree with the findings.<\/p>\n In October 2024, LAHSA canceled its contracts<\/a> with Abundant Blessings. It was well over a year after the group started billing on a contract despite having no one enrolled to be served, according to LAHSA\u2019s findings<\/a>. LAHSA made $1.5 million in direct payments<\/a> to the group after sending the \u201cHigh-Risk\u201d delinquency letter to Soofer. About $771,000 of that was paid after the date auditors say LAHSA obtained credible evidence of possible crimes, records show<\/a>.<\/p>\n LAHSA also approved an additional $447,000 in payments to Soofer\u2019s for-profit company \u2014 Abundant Blessings From Above \u2014 as a subcontractor from late August 2024 to January 2025, all after the date auditors say LAHSA obtained credible evidence of possible crimes, according to LAHSA records.<\/p>\n Altogether, LAHSA paid $5 million to Soofer\u2019s nonprofit through direct contracts starting in 2023, according to LAHSA data<\/a> and prosecutors<\/a>. His for-profit company received more than $17 million in additional LAHSA funds as a subcontractor of another nonprofit, Special Service for Groups, starting years earlier in 2018, according to prosecutors<\/a>.<\/p>\n LAHSA took much longer to review compliance than other agencies<\/b><\/p>\n Other agencies say they review homeless service providers\u2019 performance much more frequently.<\/p>\n Denver officials check homeless service providers\u2019 performance data daily \u2014 including occupancy of shelter beds, according to information shared at an L.A. summit last month.<\/p>\n L.A. County\u2019s homeless services director, Sarah Mahin, said that on a daily basis, the county sends to their providers a data snapshot that flags where performance metrics are not being met. Starting last month<\/a>, her county department has taken over the hundreds of millions of dollars the county had been sending to LAHSA each year. City dollars have remained at LAHSA under city budgets proposed by Bass and approved by the City Council.<\/p>\n This June, federal officials announced they were suspending all federal dollars to LAHSA<\/a>, citing Abundant Blessings<\/a> as one of a number of failings by the agency. A judge recently paused the federal suspension<\/a>, saying LAHSA \u201cmay be dysfunctional,” but that federal officials had \u201cabruptly\u201d pulled the rug from under providers who serve thousands of people.<\/p>\n In response to the federal suspension, Bass\u2019 office said<\/a> she had previously directed the city to evaluate how to move away from LAHSA.<\/p>\n \u201cMayor Bass, too, has grave concerns about LAHSA and zero tolerance for mismanagement and negligence, which is why she previously directed the City to evaluate how to move away from the agency,\u201d the mayor\u2019s office said in its June 11 statement<\/a> reacting to the federal suspension.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Bass told LAist<\/a> the mayor\u2019s directive was to the city\u2019s housing department and other city departments, \u201cto develop options to transition away from LAHSA.\u201d<\/p>\n LAist followed up with the housing department\u2019s press office for more information. A spokesperson for the housing department declined to confirm whether the mayor gave such a directive<\/a> at all. And in response to a public records request, the department told LAist<\/a> it has no record of such a directive.<\/p>\n Bass\u2019 office hasn\u2019t responded to follow-up requests for comment<\/a> on whether the mayor did in fact make the directive her office had claimed.<\/p>\n A settlement deal<\/b><\/p>\n In response to a demand from LAHSA, records show<\/a> Soofer and LAHSA agreed last November that he and his nonprofit would pay the agency $1.25 million,in exchange for LAHSA giving up the ability to seek more money<\/a> from him or Abundant Blessings. The agreement says<\/a> both Soofer and LAHSA \u201cdeny any fault.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement includes a non-disparagement clause<\/a> that says LAHSA shall not \u201cmake any statements\u2014oral, written, or electronic\u2014that disparage\u201d Soofer or Abundant Blessings, and vice versa.<\/p>\n The signature line for O\u2019Neill \u2014 LAHSA\u2019s interim CEO \u2014 does not show a signature<\/a>, while the electronic signature history says she signed it<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLAHSA\u2019s agreement with Abundant Blessings assured that $1.2 million in documented disallowed costs were repaid,\u201d said Chapman, the LAHSA spokesperson. \u201cLAHSA remains committed to assisting in any ongoing law enforcement investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n Reactions from other elected officials<\/b><\/p>\n Several elected officials said LAist\u2019s findings about LAHSA\u2019s handling of Abundant Blessings show the need for a major overhaul of oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cLAHSA needs deep reform of its compliance and finance functions. Its leadership must make that reform a priority \u2014 and deliver it,\u201d said county Supervisor Kathryn Barger.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no idea why LAHSA continued sending funds to this organization months after staff raised these serious red flags,\u201d said Supervisor Janice Hahn.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds like the right hand didn\u2019t know what the left hand was doing,\u201d she added. \u201cIt is decisions like this that have undermined the public\u2019s trust in LAHSA and why my colleagues and I made the decision to pull the County\u2019s funding.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing concerns about oversight failings at LAHSA, county supervisors decided in spring 2025 to pull the county\u2019s homeless service dollars out of LAHSA and instead have the county oversee it directly.<\/p>\n Supervisor Holly Mitchell told LAist that the Abundant Blessings case \u201cserves as an example of the need for LAHSA and all entities involved to continue strengthening oversight in its contracting.\u201d<\/p>\n L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman chaired the council\u2019s homelessness committee for the last several years, where she supported continued city funding of LAHSA. She shifted this spring<\/a> to calling for the city to transition out of LAHSA after she started running for mayor against Bass, her former ally<\/a>. <\/p>\n Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, left, talks with L.A. Mayor Karen Bass at Hazeltine Park in Sherman Oaks in 2024. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Mel Melcon\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Raman said LAist\u2019s findings underscore why it\u2019s important for the city to also transition away from LAHSA.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic trust depends on rigorous oversight, timely disclosure of problems, and clear accountability when taxpayer dollars are at risk, and these allegations underscore why the status quo at LAHSA was unsustainable,\u201d Raman said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need systems that surface problems immediately, protect public funds, and ensure that organizations failing to meet their obligations are no longer entrusted with scarce homelessness resources.\u201d<\/p>\n A pattern of broader problems at LAHSA<\/b><\/p>\n In addition to the review finalized this month<\/a> that found ongoing problems with LAHSA\u2019s finance and payment processes, an outside audit found<\/a> that LAHSA had a \u201csignificant\u201d problem with inaccurate financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 2025.<\/p>\n How to reach me<\/p>\n If you have a tip, you can reach me on Signal. My username is ngerda.47.<\/b><\/p>\n Last month, LAist reported<\/a> that LAHSA had gone years without completing any internal audits, which are widely considered essential for protecting taxpayer dollars, since they flag risky practices.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a problem that was flagged years ago by a 2024 county audit<\/a>, which faulted LAHSA for failing to complete internal audits. That raises the risk of fraud, the county auditors wrote.<\/p>\n Additional reviews in 2023<\/a> and 2025<\/a> found that LAHSA had a broader problem of not ensuring service providers logged their services into the same central database where Abundant Blessings wasn\u2019t entering anyone as being served under certain contracts. The 2025 review, overseen by a federal judge, found<\/a> that the broader reporting problem \u201cmay have stemmed from insufficient communication and lack of clarity surrounding reporting requirements and deadlines.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s next?<\/b><\/p>\n Another ongoing audit, expected to wrap in the coming weeks, is reviewing whether top LAHSA officials followed proper procedures when signing and delegating contracts. It began after LAist reported<\/a> that Adams Kellum\u2019s signature finalized a $2.1 million contract with her husband\u2019s employer.<\/p>\n That reporting prompted the state\u2019s Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate whether Adams Kellum violated conflict-of-interest laws. Her signature as LAHSA\u2019s CEO at the time also finalized a contract with a nonprofit she had led until two months <\/b>before<\/a> the signature. State law bars<\/a> officials from involvement in contracting with entities that recently paid them $500 or more, or their spouses $1,000 or more.<\/p>\n This week, Stephanie Graves \u2014 a Bass appointee who now chairs the LAHSA Commission \u2014 proposed removing the commission\u2019s audit committee chair, Justin Szlasa, who has<\/a> pushed<\/a> for<\/a> LAHSA to improve its practices and complete its internal audits<\/a>. Szlasa \u2014 an appointee of county Supervisor Barger \u2014 would be replaced by a Bass appointee. No explanation for replacing Szlasa is provided in the written recommendation, which is up for approval by the commission on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Graves has not answered a voicemail and text message from LAist asking why she wants to remove Szlasa. She responded with a text saying, \u201cIt\u2019s the chair prerogative.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787787380_731_.jpeg\")
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