California’s Homeless Industrial Complex Is Just a Giant Money-Laundering Operation [WATCH]

Laura Ingraham and Bill Essayli detailed new developments in California’s Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force during a recent exchange focused on the state’s handling of taxpayer-funded homeless services and a growing number of criminal cases tied to misuse of public money.

Ingraham opened the discussion by pointing to the origins of the task force and its narrow focus on homelessness programs, asking why those services became the priority of the investigation.

“Back in April, you launched this task force to investigate corruption in California. You focused on homeless services. Tell us why. This might be just the tip of the fraud iceberg here,” Ingraham said.

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Essayli explained that his background as both a former prosecutor in Los Angeles and a former state legislator shaped his decision to examine homelessness spending, particularly given the scale of public investment and the lack of measurable improvement.

“Yeah, Laura, remember, before I was the prosecutor here in LA, I was in the legislature. Over the last five years, California spent $24 billion on homelessness, and it only got worse. So of course, the question is, where did the money go? What happened to 24 billion?” Essayli said.

He said those questions led directly to the creation of the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force. Essayli acknowledged that federal investigations require time, even as public frustration grows.

“So I launched this task force, and just quickly, I mean, federal investigations do take time. I know the public wants action. It takes time to put these cases together,” he said.

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Essayli said the task force has already made three arrests, including the most recent case involving the head of a nonprofit organization that received significant public funding intended for homeless services.

“This is the third arrest we’ve made. This guy that we arrested today got $23 million in taxpayer dollars that’s federal, state and local, and did not use it on the homeless. He used it on himself and and we showed a lot of it today at our press conference,” Essayli said.

Ingraham then turned to the broader financial impact on Californians, noting the rising cost of living and questioning how extensive the fraud could ultimately become for taxpayers across the state.

“So when we think about how expensive California has become to exist in as a middle class income earner, really, at every level, it’s so expensive, and the ultimate cost of this to the to the taxpayers of California could end up being. How much do you think, if you had to guess, how much this fraud overall would be?” Ingraham asked.

Essayli responded that the known cases represent only a fraction of what investigators expect to uncover.

“I think it will get into the billions. Just in the three cases we’ve charged, we’re already looking at over 100 million, and we are just getting started. We have more than two dozen investigations going,” he said.

He described what he called a complete lack of oversight in the distribution of homelessness funding, which he said allowed widespread abuse to occur without detection.

“And what’s crazy about this, Laura, is the egregiousness. There was no vetting and handing the money out, and there’s no checking to make sure the money is actually being used,” Essayli said.

Essayli outlined details from the latest arrest, describing how the nonprofit operator allegedly used public funds for personal luxury purchases instead of providing services.

“This guy we arrested today, who ran this nonprofit was supposed to be housing 600 homeless people and giving them three meals a day. He bought a mansion in Westwood, he bought a vacation home in Greece, he bought a Range Rover, and he went shopping at Hermes and stayed at the Four Seasons in Hawaii, that’s where your money ended up on his trips, not to the homeless. And the homeless are dying on the streets. People are dying on our streets,” he said.

Ingraham then asked whether homelessness had improved at all in California, given that the state spends more on the issue than any other and has the largest homeless population in the country.

“So you as a state, your state has spent more on homelessness. It’s a large state, obviously, has most homeless in the country, and homelessness has gotten worse year after year, has it not?” Ingraham said.

Essayli said the situation has not improved and argued that state policies have contributed to the problem.

“It has not improved. We’re basically importing all the homeless people from around the country. The weather is great here. California gives very generous services and handouts, and there’s no there’s no penalties for drug use and addiction all these other things. So people flock here,” he said.

He added that California’s approach has resulted in a disproportionate share of the nation’s homeless population while failing to deliver results.

“We have a disproportionate number of the homeless people in California, and their policies attract them. Okay, the public has said, we want to fix it. We’re willing to pay the taxes and so but the money’s not going to its intended cause,” Essayli said.

Essayli concluded by criticizing what he described as systemic failures in accountability, arguing that political considerations have taken priority over oversight.

“That’s the problem with states like California. They are the masters of fraud. They enable the fraud because there’s no accountability, there’s no vetting, there’s no checking, because all they care about is the headline and appeasing their political constituencies, who are all these nonprofits and do good groups, and they don’t care where the money ends up,” he said.

Ingraham closed the exchange by crediting the task force’s efforts and pointing to past warnings about waste and corruption in homelessness spending.

“Well, Bill. Donald Trump predicted this, and he urged a really clear look at this and accountability, and looks like you guys are delivering. Thank you. As always, lots of hard work goes into these cases,” Ingraham said.

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