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James O'Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII - Mayor Karen Bass’s response to our request for comment:
LOS ANGELES MAYOR KAREN BASS' OFFICE — OFFICIAL STATEMENT
"This is total BS.
We're not going to comment on this nonsense further."
Quote
James O'Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII
Video: CAUGHT ON HIDDEN CAMERA: LA Housing Department Financial Officer Admits Witnessing Multiple Instances of Fraud Up To “$10–$20 Million” & “Going To People’s Pockets,” Homeless Developers Committing Forms Of Embezzlement, With Superiors Looking The Other Way To Help Mayor Karen Bass Maintain “Re-Election Funds.”
“I have a couple of developers doing really sketchy stuff. My project was with a developer called CRCD — Marcella Gardens. We [LA City] can’t figure out where all the money is going… it’s going to people’s pockets.”
“If they [LA Housing Department] were to call out the people [Developers] contacting Karen Bass’s office, she might not get enough money for re-election — or for what she needs done.”
“For whatever reason, LAHSA gets allocated a ton of money, but they [LAHSA] don’t really have a whole lot to show for it.”
Donald Byers, a Finance Development Officer from the Los Angeles housing programs, admits on hidden camera that millions of taxpayer money disappear inside the city’s low-income housing system. Byers told our undercover journalist he flagged the fraud internally but was ignored.
“I’ve reported it… nothing happens.”
Accountability is avoided. Despite years-long delays on projects, funding continues to flow even when, by his own admission, officials are failing. Meanwhile, as billions are poured into homelessness programs, the money is “going to people’s pockets.”
Despite years-long project delays, funding continues to flow even as, by his own admission, oversight appears to be failing. After raising red flags, Byers says nothing changed and now he claims, “At this point, I’m just covering myself.”
Our team reached out to Byers for comment and he threatened to contact lawyers in order to stop our publication. We also reached out to @LAHD___, @CRCD_SouthLA, & @MayorOfLA for comment. Mayor Karen Bass replied with, “this is total BS.”
Thank you, @Savsays for hosting this report.