Overview

• Steven Taylor, 44, was charged with seven counts of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering tied to a Cheviot Hills deal that allegedly used fake bank statements and a hidden double-escrow sale to Weingart Center for $27.3 million; he was released on a $3.6 million bond.
• Cody Holmes, 31, the former CFO of Shangri-La Industries, was arrested after prosecutors alleged he and the company used false balance sheets to obtain $25.9 million for a Thousand Oaks Homekey project and then diverted grant funds to Holmes-controlled accounts and American Express bills, including luxury purchases.
• Investigators detailed transfers of more than $2.2 million from a Shangri-La account to a Holmes account in November–December 2022 and over $2 million in American Express payments from November 2022 to May 2023.
• Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli called the filings the "tip of the iceberg" as a DOJ-FBI task force tracks potential misuse of billions across seven Southern California counties, and the FBI urged tips at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
• California’s attorney general previously sued Shangri-La to recover more than $100 million and sought receivership of seven motel conversions that received over $114 million in Homekey awards but were not completed.