Federal authorities in Los Angeles announced two major criminal cases Thursday involving fraud schemes tied to California’s public homelessness programs, resulting in one arrest in Beverly Hills and charges against a Brentwood property developer.
“Accountability for the misuse of billions of tax dollars intended to combat homelessness starts today,” said Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “The two criminal cases announced are only the tip of the iceberg, and we intend to aggressively pursue all leads and hold anyone who broke any federal laws criminally liable.”
Cody Holmes, 31, of Beverly Hills, was arrested on a federal mail fraud charge related to the misuse of millions of dollars from California’s Homekey program. Holmes, the former chief financial officer of Los Angeles-based Shangri-La Industries LLC, allegedly submitted falsified bank records and financial statements to the California Department of Housing and Community Development to obtain homelessness grants.
Authorities say the agency paid $25.9 million to Shangri-La for housing projects in Thousand Oaks, Redlands, and King City. Court documents allege that Holmes diverted portions of those funds for personal use, including paying off luxury credit card bills. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
In a separate case, Steven Taylor, 44, of Brentwood, faces seven counts of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and one count of money laundering. Prosecutors claim Taylor used fake bank statements and fraudulent loans to finance real estate projects across Los Angeles neighborhoods, including Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Westlake, and Cheviot Hills.
Taylor allegedly purchased an $11.2 million property in Cheviot Hills using falsified documents and later sold it to a homeless housing developer for $27.3 million using public funds. He remains free on a $3.6 million bond.
“The FBI is committed to the Homelessness Fraud & Corruption Task Force to find perpetrators of this insidious fraud,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
