LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 The CEO of a Los Angeles homeless services charity faces federal and state fraud charges after prosecutors said he lived a luxury lifestyle that included lavish vacations and designer clothes paid for with $23 million in public money meant to keep people off the streets.<\/p>\n
Alexander Soofer, 42, was arrested Friday at his $7 million home that investigators believe he afforded using funds that were supposed to support his nonprofit Abundant Blessings, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli<\/a>.<\/p>\n The charitable group was contracted with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a county agency, to use taxpayer money to find shelter and provide three meals a day for more than 600 homeless residents.<\/p>\n Instead, prosecutors said Soofer bought a $125,000 Range Rover, a $2,450 Hermes jacket, a vacation home in Greece and a trip to Hawaii, where he stayed at the Four Seasons hotel that was famously the setting for the HBO TV show \u201cThe White Lotus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was living the high life while the people suffering, the homeless, lived on the streets with no shelter, no food,\u201d Essayli said during a Friday news conference with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.<\/p>\n If convicted as charged, Soofer could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, Essayli said. An email was sent Monday seeking comment from Soofer\u2019s attorney, Hilary Potashner.<\/p>\n According to the indictment, Soofer falsified invoices to claim he was serving fresh meals and renting out rooms while homeless people were instead fed canned beans and bulk packs of microwaveable ramen noodles.<\/p>\n Investigators found Soofer falsified records to cover up the fact that he paid himself to \u201crent\u201d properties for homeless people that he already owned, the indictment said.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Soofer called his company Abundant Blessings, but the only abundant blessings were the blessings he gave himself,\u201d Hochman said.<\/p>\n During the news conference, the prosecutors pointed to concerns that billions spent to combat homelessness haven\u2019t brought enough people off the streets. The number of homeless residents across Los Angeles County dropped 4% last year, according to the annual count released last July. The tally estimated that some 72,000 people were living in shelters or in sidewalk encampments countywide.<\/p>\n