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First Arrests Hint At How Billions In California Homeless Dollars Vanished Without A Trace on Gavin Newsom's Watch
PJ Media ^ | 10/17/2025 | Victoria Taft

Posted on 10/17/2025 9:32:09 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

With the arrests and federal indictments of two California men announced on Thursday, we're now getting an idea of how California's billions of dollars to "end homelessness" vanished without a trace. Instead of helping to solve the problem of rampant tent encampments filled with addicts on the beaches and streets in California, things got worse. Where did all that money go?

An audit in 2024 revealed that no one knew how the homeless money was spent. I wrote about this in "No Wonder Gavin Newsom Didn't Want an Audit to Track $24 Billion in Homeless Spending." The audit revealed that there were no guardrails or accountability for the use of that money or its expenditure.

How could that be?

No one was watching the store. California and Los Angeles handed out billions of dollars approved by voters to help end homelessness, and when homelessness got worse, no one in government could answer where all that money went—because no one checked.

Now, the federal Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force has begun running down the homeless scams that possess all the hallmarks of the ones Californians saw in its COVID spending and the notoriously poorly vetted unemployment scam, in which Nigerian princes and prison inmates alike received federal and state unemployment money. And then came the $100 million FireAid scam. All of this happened on Gavin Newsom's watch.

The Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force, which includes the IRS, FBI, and the Central California Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose nomination sits untouched by the U.S. Senate, announced the alleged scams that had escaped the notice of Los Angeles homeless officials and the State of California.

(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; crime; demagogicparty; democrattruth; fraud; gavinnewsom; homeless; karenbass; losangeles; newsom; sociopath; theft
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1 posted on 10/17/2025 9:32:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

LOL!


2 posted on 10/17/2025 9:41:31 PM PDT by Democrat = party of treason
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To: Democrat = party of treason

It ain’t funny


3 posted on 10/17/2025 9:48:18 PM PDT by MileHi ((Liberalism is an ideology of parasites, hypocrites, grievance mongers, victims, and control freaks.)
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To: Democrat = party of treason
This is the general first impression that strikes visitors to CA - where precisely does the money go? It is not visible in the road network or the public facilities one encounters. Between the revenues from the fuels taxes, the state income taxes, and the federal dollars - where does the money go? This focus is not opportune timing for Newsome.
4 posted on 10/17/2025 9:49:21 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: SeekAndFind

Don’t forget the about the $1 billion Newsom gave to China during the Covid lock down and has nothing to show for that money. Democrats, they do loot the public’s purse. This why the democrats are fighting like hell to stay in power and in control of the state and federal governments. Stealing huge amounts of public money helps them remain in power so they can keep stealing more.


5 posted on 10/17/2025 10:29:26 PM PDT by drypowder
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To: drypowder

Which goes to show that holding political office has become one giant money laundering scheme.


6 posted on 10/17/2025 10:35:42 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus….)
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To: SeekAndFind

Another absolute shameful leadership and governance failure by Gavin Newsom, to go with the laundry list that’s already a mile long. Watch the media memory hole this one too.

If he’s the 2028 candidate, he needs to be beaten mercilessly for the high-speed rail crap, for this loss of billions right here, for the absolute departure and flight of the middle class for state, etc., etc. etc.


7 posted on 10/17/2025 10:42:05 PM PDT by suasponte137
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To: SeekAndFind

Indictments

Arrests

Convictions

Prison time


8 posted on 10/17/2025 10:48:18 PM PDT by Nachoman (Proudly oppressing people of color since 1957.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Coming to a city in New York City soon.


9 posted on 10/17/2025 10:55:25 PM PDT by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: SeekAndFind

If i had to guess the money was spend on an emergency basis to prop up the Harris campaign with the expectation that once she was elected the money problem would be taken care of.


10 posted on 10/17/2025 10:56:34 PM PDT by rottweiller_inc (Lupus urbem intravit. Fulminis ictu vultures super turrem exanimat.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Well when you subsidize something you get more of it. Pay people to be homeless and you’ll get more homeless.


11 posted on 10/17/2025 10:59:30 PM PDT by for-q-clinton (ui)
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To: SeekAndFind

Same with unemployment benefits.


12 posted on 10/17/2025 11:12:41 PM PDT by Texas Eagle ("Throw me to the wolves and I'll return leading the pack"- Donald J. Trump)
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To: for-q-clinton

The problem is that the vast majority of the money does not wind up in the hands of the homeless but in the pockets of the execs and staff of the NGOs and “non-profits” (paying their execs 500K to over 1M per year) that contract to provide homeless services, plus the developers and contractors who build homeless housing that gets trashed within a few weeks of the homeless being placed there. Those folks need to keep the gravy train going, so actually solving the homeless problem is their lowest priority.


13 posted on 10/18/2025 12:14:43 AM PDT by SFConservative
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To: SeekAndFind

24 Bill is a pretty nice nest egg.


14 posted on 10/18/2025 1:56:22 AM PDT by Paladin2 (YMMV)
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To: SeekAndFind

I figure this homeless money went into Democrat NGOs. From there it was paid out in salaries and non existent projects. Such as 10 million dollars given to someone with a fake organization that will do needle exchanges for druggies. But the money is just pocketed.


15 posted on 10/18/2025 2:02:45 AM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity )
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To: SFConservative

The California governments homeless money must be sent to an NGO to make it look legitimate. From there the money is granted to all kinds of do-gooder homeless projects that exist only on paper. This is how it is ripped off.

The NGO leaders get millions in bribes and kickbacks from those they dole the money out to.


16 posted on 10/18/2025 2:08:32 AM PDT by dennisw (There is no limit to human stupidity )
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To: SeekAndFind
The Democrats are professionals at two things

The first is using taxpayer money to build an underclass of permanent dependents and patronage employs to maintain perpetual power in government

The second is stealing public funds for themselves.

The “ homeless “ are the perfect way to both at the same time.

Creating large government programs that spend vast sums of government money become rife with fraud even under the best of circumstances and the toughest set financial controls

Giving vast sums of untraceable, unaudited street money to people who have no permanent address and no verifiable ID enables a virtually limitless range of opportunities for Democrats and public officials to steal or launder taxpayer money and direct it to themselves and their well connected cronies.

All under the pretext of humanitarianism, philanthropy and public service as a cover for their theft and fraud.

The homeless have become a multi hundred billion dollar industry that enables politicians to divert and launder those billions to themselves and their allies through a network of organizations like public service non profits, charities, mental health services , food banks, homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation programs, advocacy groups , healthcare providers

This confederation of Democrat political activists of the homeless industry also act as grass roots political action, community organizing and get out the vote ( ie vote fraud) boots on the ground to help Democrat political candidates flip elections .

17 posted on 10/18/2025 3:21:48 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead.l)
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To: SeekAndFind

where is former NYC mayor deblasios wife mccrey? still waiting to find out where the 800 million went for her mental health initiative, she says she has no idea


18 posted on 10/18/2025 3:25:14 AM PDT by ronnie raygun (i)
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To: rottweiller_inc

*If i had to guess the money was spend on an emergency basis to prop up the Harris campaign with the expectation that once she was elected the money problem would be taken care of.*

You are probably correct. It makes complete sense.


19 posted on 10/18/2025 3:38:24 AM PDT by sgt_lau (Islamophobic? No. I reject a 7th century death-cult that demands non-believers like me, dead.)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken
If it's like in Illinois, the first over-the-table spend is on government payroll. It takes a lot of oversight of the oversight to spend taxpayer money.

Then there is the myth called "Prevailing Wage".

And that's just the over the table part.

20 posted on 10/18/2025 3:51:42 AM PDT by Bernard ("Nothing is as expensive as that which the government provides for free." - Ronald Reagan)
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