Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Indicted: FEMA Funds Misuse?

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick faces indictment for allegedly misusing $5M in FEMA funds for her 2021 campaign. Alleges conspiracy and misuse of disaster relief funds.

The congresswoman and her tax preparer, David K. Spencer, 41, are also charged with conspiring to file an incorrect federal tax return for presumably falsely marking political spending and other individual costs as business reductions– and blowing up Cherfilus-McCormick’s charitable payments to relieve her tax obligation commitments.

Campaign Finance Allegations

Throughout that campaign, Cherfilus-McCormick excited uncertainty by personally loaning her campaign more than $6 million and afterwards paying herself back to the tune of roughly $2.5 million, Federal Political election Compensation filings reveal.

“Utilizing disaster alleviation funds for self-enrichment is a specifically egocentric, cynical criminal activity,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the legislation, least of all effective people that rob taxpayers for personal gain.

Official Statements on Misconduct

The Florida Division of Emergency situation Monitoring declared in a December 2024 lawsuit versus the health care business owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s household– Trinity Healthcare Services– that it overcharged the state by almost $5.8 million for job done throughout the pandemic and refused to provide the cash back.

The offenders apparently transmitted the funds “via multiple accounts to disguise its source” and made use of “a significant part of the misused funds … as prospect payments” to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign.

“Today’s charge shows nobody is over the law,” United States Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones of the Southern District of Florida stated in a statement. “This charge shows our Workplace’s commitment to adhere to the realities, apply the legislation, and shield the American taxpayer.

Details of the Indictment

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) was struck with a federal indictment Wednesday, accusing her of taking $5 million in Federal Emergency situation Administration Agency (FEMA) funds to sustain her 2021 legislative project.

The Justice Department alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and a number of co-defendants, including her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, “conspired to take” an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds their family members health care business received in July 2021 as component of a COVID-19 inoculation staffing agreement.