A Westwood man who was the executive director of a South Los Angeles charity that received funds for housing for the homeless pleaded not guilty today to charges that he defrauded the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority of more than $5 million, including $2 million that allegedly went toward his properties or was accounted for through allegedly fraudulent invoices.

Alexander Soofer, 42, is charged with 11 felony counts of conflict of interest, five felony counts of forgery and two felony counts of offering false evidence in connection with millions of dollars in contracts between LAHSA and Abundant Blessings, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

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The conflict of interest charges stem from contracts between Abundant Blessings and LAHSA in which the contracts expressly stated that Soofer could not own the properties used to house homeless residents or subcontract with himself or family members with a financial interest in the properties or companies providing a service, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The allegedly stolen LAHSA funds were earmarked for Youth Homelessness, Bridge Housing, Winter Shelter, Home Safe, Inside Safe and other programs, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Soofer is also accused of failing to provide shelter and nutritious meals under his contractual obligations, and allegedly providing fake subcontractor invoices to LAHSA with the names of real companies, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Soofer — whose case is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom March 9 — could face up to 17 years and six months behind bars if convicted of the charges.

He is charged separately with wire fraud in a federal case in which he is set to be arraigned Feb. 26. He could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of that charge, federal prosecutors noted.

According to an affidavit filed with the federal complaint, Soofer is the executive director of Abundant Blessings, a Hyde Park-based charity. Through the charity, Soofer contracted with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to provide housing and meals for people who were homeless or were at risk of becoming homeless.

“The only abundant blessings he gave were to himself,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement released shortly after the state charges were filed against Soofer.

Federal prosecutors allege that in some contracts, Soofer agreed to house participants at sites he managed. In others, he expressed plans to house people at hotels or motels, while everyone being sheltered would be provided with three nutritional meals a day, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

But Soofer allegedly lied to LAHSA about how he was using the money his charity received, and instead allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars for himself.

He also allegedly lied about payments supposedly being made to third-party vendors for housing services, while the money was actually being diverted to his personal bank accounts. Prosecutors contend Soofer claimed to be leasing properties for homeless housing from third-party landlords at a market rate, when he was instead paying himself above market rate.

In response to complaints and discrepancies in Soofer’s billing documents, city and county investigators conducted site visits and found the only food items being served at the sites were things such as Ramen noodles, canned beans, and breakfast bars — not the nutritious meals he contended were being provided, according to court papers.

Soofer allegedly pocketed at least $10 million — using the public money for a down payment on his Westwood home and millions of dollars of upgrades, private schooling for his kids, trips to Las Vegas, private jet travel, and stays at luxury resorts from Hawaii to Florida, federal prosecutors said.

Soofer also appeared to use $475,000 to purchase a vacation property in Greece, sending the money to a Greek property developer, according to federal prosecutors.