In the heart of Los Angeles County’s sprawling bureaucracy, where federal land meets local ambition, a troubling pattern of influence-peddling has emerged, one that links multimillion-dollar housing projects for veterans and the homeless to campaign donations, backroom deals, and now, federal indictments.
The recent federal charges against a key executive at Shangri-La Industries have pulled back the curtain on what critics describe as a classic pay-to-play scheme: developers funneling campaign cash to powerful local officials in exchange for lucrative public contracts and regulatory favors. The scandal is now directly tied to projects like the $20.5 million rehabilitation of Building 208 at the West Los Angeles VA Campus, where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors played a pivotal role in unlocking taxpayer funds, potentially rewarding their own political donors in the process.
The Building 208 Project: Federal Land, County Control
Building 208, a historic property at 11301 Wilshire Boulevard on VA land, was intended to serve as a sanctuary for veterans, offering supportive housing through a 2019 Enhanced-Use Lease (EUL) with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Shangri-La Construction, LP, a subsidiary of Shangri-La Industries led by CEO Andrew Abdul-Wahab (also known as Andy Meyers), served as the prime contractor, overseeing seismic retrofits, HVAC upgrades, and restorations alongside partners Veterans Housing Partnership, LLC, and Step Up on Second Street, Inc.
Despite being located on federal property, Building 208 fell under Los Angeles County’s jurisdiction for permits, labor compliance, and land-use oversight, giving the Board of Supervisors unprecedented influence. By early 2023, the project’s costs had ballooned by nearly 20 percent, about $3 million, amid claims of pandemic delays and supply-chain disruptions.
The financing structure was equally intricate. Through an April 2020 Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between the City and County of Los Angeles, the City issued $18.5 million in tax-exempt bonds and another $2.075 million in 2023, supplemented by $11.66 million from Proposition HHH funds. The Board’s swift approval under the federal Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) was essential to release those funds. Without the signatures of Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Hilda Solis, Sheila Kuehl, Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Janice Hahn, the project could not have moved forward.
This placed the County in a dual role, both gatekeeper and beneficiary, ensuring no progress without political blessing.
The Fraud Unraveled
The illusion of progress collapsed in October 2025 when federal prosecutors indicted Shangri-La Industries’ former CFO, Cody Holmes, on multiple counts of mail fraud. Prosecutors allege Holmes embezzled millions from California’s Project Homekey initiative, funneling taxpayer dollars meant for homeless housing into Birkin bags, private jets, and a $46,000-a-month Beverly Hills mansion.
The indictment came nearly a year after California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a sweeping civil fraud lawsuit against Shangri-La, accusing the company of defaulting on loans tied to seven motel conversions funded by Project Homekey. According to The Real Deal, the state’s complaint claimed Shangri-La breached its contracts to convert motels into permanent housing and committed outright fraud, leaving all seven properties “at risk of imminent foreclosure.” The company reportedly owed $41 million under delinquent debt as of December 2023.
Shangri-La had been awarded a staggering $114 million in state grants to convert motels across California into supportive housing. Only two of the seven projects were completed. The rest remain shuttered or in disrepair—bleeding more than $41 million in taxpayer funds.
Campaign Cash and County Influence
Public records reveal that Shangri-La’s executives strategically donated thousands of dollars to LA County Supervisors and candidates in tandem with key project approvals. Records from the County’s TRACCER campaign finance database show donations to Supervisors Janice Hahn, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Sheila Kuehl, Hilda Solis, and Kathryn Barger, all of whom voted on housing bond and project funding measures benefiting Shangri-La.
The pay-to-play pattern extended beyond the Board. Shangri-La’s top executives, including Abdul-Wahab donated $1,500 to Sheriff Robert Luna’s 2022 campaign, while CFO Holmes and company coordinator Skyler Modrzejewski gave $1,500 in 2022 and again in 2026.
Within months of taking office, Luna disbanded the Sheriff’s Public Corruption Unit, citing budget issues, a move that has since raised serious questions about conflicts of interest given his donors’ growing criminal exposure.
Yet amid the swirl of corruption, at least one high-profile official refused to be bought. Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who ran Los Angeles County’s largest law enforcement agency without accepting donations from Shangri-La or its affiliates, stood apart from the county’s political machine. His administration’s independence, often at odds with the Board of Supervisors, underscored his resistance to the campaign cash pipeline now under federal scrutiny.
The Pattern – and the Fallout
What’s emerging is a blueprint for systemic corruption: political donations timed with multimillion-dollar project approvals, inflated construction costs justified through bureaucratic red tape, and a revolving door between developers, nonprofits, and elected officials. In the case of Building 208, the County’s dual oversight of federal funds and local regulations allowed insiders to profit while veterans waited for promised housing.
As federal and state investigations converge, the questions multiply. Were the escalating project costs legitimate, or were they padded to conceal kickbacks and campaign payoffs? Did elected officials trade approvals for donations? And will the County’s tangled web of political protection finally unravel under the weight of federal subpoenas?
One thing is clear: this scandal has exposed a culture of entitlement and corruption within Los Angeles County’s political establishment, where even taxpayer-funded programs designed to house the most vulnerable became just another opportunity for profit and power.
If the allegations hold, the Shangri-La affair is far more than a case of corporate fraud, it’s the first crack in a political dam that’s beginning to burst. The dominoes are already starting to fall, as investigators follow the money trail from failed homeless housing projects to campaign coffers, exposing how deeply entrenched pay-to-play culture has infected Los Angeles County’s power structure.
What began as a housing scandal now threatens to topple the carefully constructed façade of integrity surrounding county leadership. In the end, the true test won’t just be whether the executives behind Shangri-La face justice, it will be whether Los Angeles County democratic leaders can survive the reckoning that’s coming.
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