Federal agents rolling a luxury Range Rover out of a manicured Los Angeles driveway have become the defining image of a widening fraud scandal that reaches from South Los Angeles shelters to a Westwood mansion. Prosecutors say the man behind the wheel of that lifestyle, charity executive Alexander Soofer, diverted millions of dollars that were supposed to move people out of tents and into permanent housing. The case has ignited fresh outrage over how public agencies oversee homelessness funding at a moment when the crisis on the streets shows no sign of easing.
According to federal filings, Soofer is accused of turning a taxpayer-backed safety net into a personal cash machine, allegedly routing public money into real estate, overseas transfers, and high-end comforts while unhoused residents were left with instant ramen and little else. The Range Rover hauled away from his Los Angeles home has become a shorthand for what critics describe as a system that rewarded paperwork over proof that lives were actually being stabilized.
The raid that jolted a wealthy enclave
Neighbors in an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood watched as federal agents converged on a sprawling property tied to Soofer, part of a coordinated operation that included towing a Range Rover from the driveway. The vehicle seizure was one visible piece of a broader search that, according to federal officials, targeted evidence of a long running scheme to siphon off money earmarked for homeless housing. Agents also moved to secure the residence itself, which investigators say was purchased and lavishly renovated with public funds that should have supported people living on the streets.
Federal officials have said that the executive at the center of the case was arrested on wire fraud and related charges after a probe into a charity based in Hyde Park and South Los Angeles that had become a significant recipient of homelessness contracts. In parallel accounts, investigators described a California man whose home was raided as part of a homeless fraud investigation and whose Range Rover was towed from an LA mansion, underscoring how the alleged misuse of funds translated into visible wealth. Authorities have emphasized that the arrest is only one piece of a broader effort, with Federal prosecutors indicating that more than two dozen additional investigations tied to homelessness spending remain open.
From South L.A. contracts to a Westwood mansion
The charity Soofer led operated out of South Los Angeles and Hyde Park, positioning itself as a conduit between public agencies and people living in encampments or makeshift shelters. Federal officials say that between 2018 and 2025, Soofer and his organization received more than $5 million directly from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA, and over $17 million through subcontractors, for a total of $23 million in homeless housing funding. Those contracts were supposed to translate into beds, case management, and pathways to permanent housing for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents…