Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick charged with stealing FEMA Covid funds
Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Fla.-20th, hosts a press conference on the ongoing crisis in Haiti on March 11, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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A federal grand jury has indicted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) for stealing $5 million in Covid-19 disaster funds, much of which she illegally contributed to her 2021 congressional campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted of the charges. The DOJ said in a press release:. Due to judges’ discretion and federal sentencing guidelines, actual sentences are often significantly below maximum sentences.
The congressman and his brother Edwin Cherfilus attempted to launder the money through multiple accounts to conceal its source, the Justice Department said, citing the indictment filed in Miami.
According to the Justice Department, the brothers received the money in July 2021 after the family health company they worked for received a $5 million overpayment from FEMA, which was funding the company’s Covid vaccine staffing contract.
Cherfilus-McCormick and co-defendant Nadege Leblanc are also accused of orchestrating a “straw donor” scheme in which money from the FEMA contract was sent to friends and relatives, who donated it back to the Congressional campaign.
Congressman and 2021 tax preparer David Spencer is also charged in the indictment with conspiracy to file false tax returns, the Justice Department said. The indictment alleged that personal and political expenses were made as business deductions and that “charitable contributions were inflated to reduce tax liabilities.”
“Using disaster relief funds to enrich oneself is a particularly selfish and cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the press release.
“No one is above the law, especially powerful people who fleece taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts and deliver justice in this case.”
A spokesperson for Cherfilus-McCormick did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. His attorneys, David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal, said in a joint statement that he was “a dedicated public servant who was dedicated to his constituents. We will fight to clear his good name.”
Cherfilus-McCormick joins the House in 2022. win a special election He will fill the seat of the late Rep. Alcee Hastings, who represented Florida’s 20th Congressional District.
He was under investigation by the Parliamentary Ethics Committee Panel revealed In late May.
Office of Congressional Conduct sent a referral He laid out a number of possible violations to that committee in May 2024, including that Cherfilus-McCormick “may have solicited community project funding that would be directed to a for-profit entity.”
According to the Department of Justice, Edwin Cherfilus faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of the charges, while Spencer faces up to 33 years in prison and Leblanc faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
