L.A. Homelessness Nonprofit Exec Charged With Skimming Millions To Finance Bingo Hall

Three people working for Los Angeles–area homeless nonprofits have been arrested and charged with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly siphoning millions of taxpayer dollars to fund their lavish lifestyles, and in one case to open up a nightclub and bingo hall.

Michael Young, founder of the Culver City–based homeless services nonprofit Home at Last, was charged with wire fraud in connection with an alleged multiyear scheme to defraud taxpayers by siphoning $12 million in funds from the nonprofit into his personal coffers.

Young allegedly spent around $1 million of the funds on an upscale R&B and jazz nightclub in Inglewood called Six Seven Five Lounge and an adjacent bingo hall called House Bingo, which he claimed was run as a nonprofit to raise money for "housing solutions."

Young was an established player in the L.A. homeless services space, and over the decade or so he was operating, he received $118 million from Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the city of Los Angeles, the county of Los Angeles, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. While some of those funds made their way into legitimate nonprofit activities, prosecutors say Young diverted millions in fraudulent self-dealing.

Young, the complaint alleges, "steered large multi-million-dollar contracts to secretly affiliated companies, and he submitted fake and misleading documents to LAHSA to make it seem like the companies were independent, third-party companies, and that LAHSA had gone through the required procurement process and obtained multiple bids from third-party vendors for these contracts."

He funneled money back to himself by setting up fake companies he alleged were doing catering work and janitorial work for the shelter sites he ran, prosecutors said.

In one case, Home at Last used $2,089,585 in funds it received from LAHSA to pay a company called Bleu Diamond for janitorial services. But prosecutors say around $1.5 million was withdrawn from Bleu Diamond's account in cash payments, many of which were made from ATMs close to Young's home.

The complaint also alleges that Young created a catering company called Sable from which he overcharged LAHSA by thousands of dollars and spent nearly $300,000 on luxury hotels, airline tickets and entertainment tickets, gym memberships, and more.

Prosecutors say that in addition to the nightclub and bingo hall, he spent $670,000 on personal expenses, including $48,000 on a trip to Tahiti and over $140,000 to remodel a vintage Chevrolet Impala. An additional $500,000, the complaint alleges, was spent on commercial real estate properties unaffiliated with the homeless services endeavors.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Other nonprofit employees charged in federal sweep

Donye Mitchell, the CEO and executive director of the homeless nonprofit Big Blue Umbrella, was charged with wire fraud for allegedly fraudulently accepting more than $1.2 million from a L.A. County–funded homeless services nonprofit called Epidaurus, which does business as Amity Foundation.

Authorities allege Mitchell falsely represented the work Big Blue Umbrella did to obtain the grants and misrepresented his connection to Special Service for Groups, a nonprofit health and human services organization that provides community programs for vulnerable populations.

In reality, prosecutors say Mitchell's past affiliation with SSG was through his previous nonprofit, L.A. Supportive Housing. Under the auspices of that nonprofit, Mitchell allegedly stopped paying rent on units he'd been subletting to SSG clients, which caused them to be displaced.

Mitchell, the complaint alleges, lied in his application to Amity, in which he claimed that BBU provided emergency housing services, supported food banks, and provided counseling to clients in need for the previous five years, and that funds would be used to support services and staff going forward.

In actuality, the complaint alleges, Mitchell used the funds to pay himself an inflated salary. He also used the funds to pay a bail bondsman following a 2024 domestic violence arrest and spent money on a PlayStation and paying down his personal credit cards, prosecutors say.

Amity eventually canceled its award after disbursing $315,000 in funds, after Mitchell and BBU failed to meet agreed-upon milestones.

If convicted, Mitchell faces up to 20 years in prison. Mitchell has a prior mail fraud conviction related to fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits.

Lakiya Malone, an employee at SSG, was charged with 21 counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

Authorities say Malone, who worked for SSG's Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System, took more than $180,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Alexander Soofer, the executive director of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings, in exchange for SSG awarding Soofer's nonprofit more than $17 million in contracts.

Malone's role at SSG involved referring people seeking social services to various programs in the city.

Authorities allege that Malone, working with Soofer, gave preferential treatment to Soofer and submitted "ghost" referrals to Soofer's nonprofit to further inflate the funding he received from SSG. The pair's elaborate scheme allegedly involved using the names of real people for these ghost referrals but forging documentation.

According to charging documents, Malone "would agree to perform official acts, including, among others, making priority referrals of participants to homeless housing sites co-conspirator Soofer was operating to maximize the amount he was billing and receiving under his contracts with SSG/HOPICS."

Soofer was separately charged and pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and one count of money laundering. As the head of the homeless charity Abundant Blessings, Soofer admitted to taking $23 million in funding that was intended to combat homelessness and pocketing at least $2 million of that money for personal use.

Among the items seized by authorities following Soofer's plea deal were Rolex and Cartier watches; dozens of gold, silver, and platinum coins; and more than $20,000 in cash hidden around his $7 million Westwood Village home.

As part of his plea agreement, Soofer is expected to pay back $2 million in installments by September 2027.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman described Young, Mitchell, Malone, and Soofer's actions as "nothing short of a slap in the face to taxpayers who have generously and compassionately funded efforts to help the unhoused put a meal in their stomachs and a roof over their heads."

L.A. has one of the largest homeless populations of any city in the country. LAHSA reports that around 72,000 people are unhoused in the city on any given night. While some believe homeless people migrate to the city because of the relatively temperate weather, a recent LAHSA survey found that about 90.4% of people living on the streets in L.A. had lived in Los Angeles County for at least one year before becoming homeless.

At least some of those living on the streets in the city are there because they were unable to find affordable housing. A 2025 report from the nonprofit California Housing Partnership found that more than 485,000 low-income renter households in L.A. County lack access to an affordable home.