His Job Was to Help Homeless. He Allegedly Helped Himself

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. 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 US Attorney Bill Essayli, per the AP.

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. 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. "He was living the high life while the people suffering, the homeless, lived on the streets with no shelter, no food," Essayli said during a Friday news conference with Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

"Mr. Soofer called his company Abundant Blessings, but the only abundant blessings were the blessings he gave himself," Hochman said. If convicted as charged, Soofer could receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, Essayli said. 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. Investigators found Soofer falsified records to cover up the fact that he paid himself to "rent" properties for homeless people that he already owned, the indictment said.

Between 2018 and 2025, Soofer received more than $23 million in homeless housing funding. Of that, more than $5 million came directly from the county homeless services authority and more than $17 million came through a Los Angeles-based nonprofit called Special Service for Groups Inc., the US attorney's office said. None of the money came directly from the state. Soofer appeared in court Friday but did not enter a plea. He was released on $1.5 million bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court on Feb. 26. His arraignment on state charges was not yet scheduled.