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US Attorney Bill Essayli has launched the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force to investigate fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption involving funds allocated for addressing homelessness in the seven counties within the jurisdiction of the Central District of California – Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

Essalyi noted the billions of dollars allocated to eradicating homelessness in this district have failed to make an impact. The task force will partner with federal law enforcement agencies to review federal, state, and local programs receiving federal grants and funding to determine how the money is being spent. The task force will also investigate fraud schemes involving the theft of private donations intended to provide support and services for the homeless population.

This task force will be comprised of federal prosecutors from the Major Frauds Section, the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and the Civil Division’s Civil Fraud Section of the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Assisting the US Attorney’s Office will be the FBI, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, and IRS Criminal Investigation.

“California has spent more than $24 billion over the past five years to address homelessness,” said Essayli. “But officials have been unable to account for all the expenditures and outcomes, and the homeless crisis has only gotten worse. Taxpayers deserve answers for where and how their hard-earned money has been spent. If state and local officials cannot provide proper oversight and accountability, we will do it for them. If we discover any federal laws were violated, we will make arrests.”