An undercover investigation has raised fresh questions about corruption and waste inside Los Angeles sprawling homelessness bureaucracy, with a city finance official captured on hidden camera alleging that tens of millions in taxpayer dollars are being siphoned off by politically connected developers.
According to The Gateway Pundit, the OKeefe Media Group on Tuesday released covert footage of Donald Byers, a Finance Development Officer for the Los Angeles Housing Department, describing what he says is systemic fraud in low-income housing projects. Byers told the undercover journalist that $10 to $20 million are going into peoples pockets and that homeless developers are embezzling money while City Hall looks away.
Byers said he tried to sound the alarm internally, only to be stonewalled by superiors who appeared more interested in political protection than public accountability. Ive reported it nothing happens, he admitted, adding that senior officials ignore red flags to safeguard Democrat Mayor Karen Basss re-election funds.
Per the OKeefe Media Group, Byers admits on hidden camera that millions of taxpayer money disappear inside the citys low-income housing system and that his warnings were brushed aside. At this point, Im just covering myself, he told the undercover reporter, suggesting a culture where whistleblowers are abandoned and mismanagement is normalized.
I have a couple of developers doing really sketchy stuff, Byers said, pointing specifically to a project with CRCD Marcella Gardens where he claims the city cannot trace vast sums. My project was with a developer called CRCD Marcella Gardens. We [LA City] cant figure out where all the money is going its going to peoples pockets, he said.
Byers further alleged that political considerations tied to Mayor Basss campaign war chest are driving the lack of enforcement. If they [LA Housing Department] were to call out the people [Developers] contacting Karen Basss office, she might not get enough money for re-election or for what she needs done, he said.
The official also questioned the powerful Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, a favored vehicle of progressive policymakers that has consumed billions with little visible progress on the streets. For whatever reason, LAHSA gets allocated a ton of money, but they [LAHSA] dont really have a whole lot to show for it, he said, underscoring conservative critics long-standing argument that bloated, Democrat-run bureaucracies are failing taxpayers and the very people they claim to help.
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