Good day all. As each day passes, more and more stories come out regarding how taxpayer funds are being wasted at best, or flat out stolen at worst. A large amount of this money is going through various Democrat slush funds called Non-Governmental Organizations.
One such group out in Los Angeles took tax money and spent it on things that had nothing to do with the homeless that the NGO was set up to handle. Here are the details from Fox News:
Taxpayer dollars intended to put roofs over the heads of Los Angeles’ homeless allegedly paid instead for a Tahiti vacation, a high-end nightclub, luxury vehicles and other personal expenses, federal authorities said Wednesday as agents fanned out across the city in an early-morning fraud crackdown.
At the center of the crackdown is Michael Young, 46, a founder of Culver City-based nonprofit Home At Last, who received more than $118 million in public funds through government contracts, including more than $75 million from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, according to the Justice Department.
I tried to find out any details on the founder of Home At Last, Michael Young, but didn’t find anything. I’m sure there is something out there, I just can’t be bothered to go down that rabbit hole. The pictures of him and two others in the story aren’t flattering, but then mug shots rarely are.
Prosecutors allege Young misappropriated millions, including more than $7.5 million through a sham vendor scheme.
“The days of these wire fraud experts flying on private jets, driving around Beverly Hills in Range Rovers and doing lavish things is over,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said.
This is the problem with NGO’s. Far to many are provided taxpayer funds with little to no oversight, until recently. This is the result. One thing that needs to be done is to end all taxpayer funding of all NGO’s. Let them raise money from private sources. Of course, they will have to provide access to their books so the donors can confirm their donations are going where they believe them to be going and not into the pockets of managers and other employees.
Young was one of three defendants charged Wednesday in separate federal cases targeting alleged fraud and corruption involving money intended to house and provide services to homeless Californians. Two were arrested Wednesday, while a third was considered a fugitive.
I did a search using Grok to find out which one of those three was on the run. Apparently it’s Donye Mitchell. Mitchell is the CEO/executive director of The Big Blue Umbrella. From what I can find out, these may be two separate organizations, or at least were set up this way.
Prosecutors allege Young used shell companies and fraudulent billing practices to divert taxpayer money, spending more than $1 million to open and operate Six Seven Five Lounge, a high-end Inglewood restaurant and nightclub.
At Wednesday’s news conference, federal officials also accused Young of spending nearly $50,000 on a luxury Tahiti vacation and $140,000 restoring a vintage Chevrolet Impala.
This “Evil Genius” is a complete moron. Granted, under the previous administration, he had a very good chance of getting away with it. Pretty much all oversight was shut shut down by the Biden Maladministration. Then President Trump came back in and the stories about the billions of dollars being stolen by Somali immigrants in Minnesota came out. After that, the auditors were unleashed.
“The taxpayers did not sign up to fund this nightclub,” Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald said.
Authorities also arrested Lakiya Malone, 48, an employee of Special Service for Groups, on a 21-count indictment alleging she accepted more than $180,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Alexander Soofer, executive director of nonprofit Abundant Blessings.
What is this? Yet another NGO? I’m at the point of saying that all of these NGO’s that are getting taxpayer funds need to be shut down.
In exchange, Malone allegedly provided priority referrals, including “ghost” homeless participants who never lived at the housing sites. Prosecutors allege their files were fabricated using fake welcome letters, forged sign-in sheets and falsified eligibility forms.
Well, at least they were able to spell the name correctly. Now it’s in the hands, or soon will be, of a jury. I expect that the fugitive, Mitchell, will be located fairly quickly, unless he had a Whitey Bulger level of preparation. If he did, and he had all of his ill gotten gains squirreled away where the Treasury can’t get at it, he may have fled the country.
Now what should be done to keep this from happening again? I’ve already said that I think that Non-Governmental Organizations should be 100% non-governmental. That means they don’t go sucking around for taxpayer money.
Frankly, they should be talking to all the rich liberals who always talk a good game when it comes to “Helping the Homeless,” but won’t spend a penny of their own money. Since anything donated privately is going to have strings attached, like ongoing audits, you might actually see something being accomplished.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
