It was a much-touted project aimed at creating more than 70 apartments for homeless people in eastern Ventura County.
In 2022, the State Department of Housing and Community Development paid Shangri-La Industries nearly $26 million towards the creation of the largest permanent housing facility for the homeless in Thousand Oaks.
The Los Angeles-based developer planned to convert a former Quality Inn and Suites off Conejo Boulevard into 77 apartments for homeless housing.
However, federal prosecutors claim that Shangri-La Industries' Chief Financial Officer, Cody Holmes, submitted false records to the state, indicating that the company had $160 million in the bank for the Thousand Oaks project and other homeless housing initiatives.
Prosecutors allege the false records were used to demonstrate the company’s stability and to persuade the state to award them the grant money. Instead, some of the millions paid to Shangri-La were used to pay credit card bills.
Holmes, of Beverly Hills, was arrested on a mail fraud charge. He hasn’t appeared in court yet to enter a plea.
