A Democratic congresswoman from Florida was charged on Wednesday with stealing federal disaster funds and using the money to support her congressional campaign, prosecutors said.
The lawmaker, Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and several co-defendants were indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the Justice Department said in a news release. Prosecutors allege that Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick used $5 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on a congressional campaign in South Florida.
In 2021, Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, worked through their family health-care company, Trinity Healthcare Services, on a FEMA-funded contract to register people for Covid vaccines.
The company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds in July 2021, prosecutors said.
The authorities say Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother routed that money through several accounts to disguise its source and ultimately used “a substantial portion” on her campaign to represent Florida’s 20th Congressional District, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick and another defendant also funneled funds from the company’s FEMA contract to friends and relatives, who passed off the money donated to her campaign as their own personal contributions, prosecutors said.
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick was the chief executive of Trinity Healthcare Services at the time.
It was not immediately clear if Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick had a lawyer. A spokeswoman for Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.
If convicted, Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick could face up to 53 years in prison. Her brother faces up to 35 years.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain.”
Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick represents a heavily Democratic district in South Florida. She entered Congress in 2022 after winning a special election to replace Representative Alcee Hastings, who died in April 2021.
Prosecutors also charged Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick and her 2021 tax preparer with conspiring to file a false federal tax return.
Hannah Ziegler is a general assignment reporter for The Times, covering topics such as crime, business, weather, pop culture and online trends.
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