Bill Essayli, the newly appointed U.S. attorney for Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, announced Tuesday a crime task force to investigate potential fraud and corruption involving local homeless funds, saying it would be arrested if federal law has been violated.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles specifically targeted Los Angeles County in a press release announcing the task force, which distributed millions of dollars in federal funds to the homeless, and a recent court-issued audit that found significant flaws in homeless services.
“Taxpayers should get answers to where and how they spend money. If state and local officials are unable to provide proper oversight and accountability, we will do it for them,” said Essayli, who was appointed to the position of Atty. General Pam Bundy last week.
In the central California area, the Homeless Fraud and Corruption Task Force will “invest crimes related to federal taxes aimed at mitigating homeless people,” an area that covers an estimated 20 million people in seven counties.
In addition to reviewing federal, state and local programs that receive federal grants and funds, the task force will “investigate fraudulent programs involving theft of private donations designed to provide support and services to the homeless,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Last month, non-flattered people tended to be in the tents of Skid Row. Court-ordered audits show that homeless spending is severely lacking financial oversight.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
According to official statistics last year, Los Angeles County has more than 75,000 homeless people, with more than 45,000 of them within the city of Los Angeles. According to Essayli’s office, the homeless population exceeds 20,000 in the remaining six counties in the region.
Essayli’s announcement comes a week after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to withdraw more than $300 million from the Los Angeles Versever Services Authority, an urban county agency that oversees a range of contracts for homeless services.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she welcomed the task force’s formation, calling the responsibility for homelessness a “long-term overdue.”
“After a harsh review of the Lahsa contract, the county has just taken steps and sent out a clear message: Public funding is designed to serve our most vulnerable people and must be managed with transparency and integrity,” Barger said. “I believe this task force will add a much-needed layer of oversight that will help restore public trust and ensure resources are truly reaching those in need.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she welcomed the task force.
(Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the task force will be composed of civil fraud departments that are mainly fraud, public corruption and civil rights, as well as civil fraud departments. The FBI, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Department will also help.
Not only can Los Angeles County officials withdraw funds, but hundreds of workers have been removed from the Homeless Services Department, also known as Lahsa, by July 2026.
The supervisor endorsed the plan after two harsh audits that identified loose accounting procedures and financial oversight of homeless authorities, also known as Lahsa. One of the reports commissioned by U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter concluded that vulnerability creates the potential for fraud and waste.
The City of Los Angeles, which provides 35% of Lahsa funds, has begun exploring its own retreat from the institution. Still, Mayor Karen Bass and other elected municipal officials have alerted the county’s actions that they could undermine efforts to move Angelenos indoors and make the progress made in the past year stand out.
On Friday, VA Lecia Adams Kellum announced she would resign as a Lahsa executive, citing the county’s decision to withdraw funds from her agency and possibly hundreds of employees.
Adams Kellum has tried to defend her agency’s work in recent weeks, noting that the county’s street homelessness has dropped by 5% and the city has dropped by more than 10% last year.
Adams Kellum said her agency is expected to report another drop next year. Despite these assurances, she and her agency have been the subject of criticism by federal judge Carter.
Carter said at a recent hearing that Lahsa has offered a “meaningless” commitment to improve its operations.
“If they were going to do this, they should, or now they should give you a roadmap … how they will do it,” he said.
Essayli visited Skid Row, the Los Angeles section where homeless residents are most concentrated, Carter on Sunday. The task force was formed on the weekend.
Councilman Nithya Raman, head of the city council’s Homelessness Committee, declined to comment through a spokesperson. The bass assistant didn’t weigh it immediately, either.
Council member Monica Rodriguez, a outspoken critic of Lahsa, said she was not surprised by Tuesday’s announcement given the recent audit findings filed in federal court. “It’s only a matter of time before the interests of federal agencies are aroused,” she said.
“I don’t think we can be apologists of the failed system,” Rodriguez added. “I hope this helps to raise the urgency of people to change, rather than defending the status quo.”
