DOJ Charges Democrat Florida Congresswoman With Stealing $5 million in FEMA Funds

Bryan S. Jung : Nov 20, 2025
PJ Media

"Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime. No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice." -Attorney General Pamela Bondi

[PJMedia.com] The US Department of Justice charged Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) with stealing $5 million in FEMA funds and using some of it to fund her campaign to support her 2021 Congressional campaign. The FBI Miami office and the IRS-CI Florida Field Office are involved in the investigation. (Screengrab image: via WPLG Local 10 News)

Federal prosecutors allege that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, of Miramar, Florida, received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds in July 2021, while their health care company, Trinity Health Care Services, of which she served as CEO, was working on a FEMA-funded staffing contract tied to COVID vaccinations.

According to the Nov. 19 indictment, instead of returning the funds to FEMA, the congresswoman and her brother conspired to steal the money and route it through multiple accounts to disguise the source. Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected in a January 2022 special election to succeed the late Rep. Alcee Hastings. The congresswoman denies the allegations.

A staffer for Cherfilus-McCormick, Nadege Leblanc, allegedly arranged additional contributions through straw donors and funneling cash grants from the FEMA-funded COVID contract to friends and relatives, who in turn donated to the 2021 campaign as if they were using their own money, according to the DOJ.

Meanwhile, David K. Spencer, Cherfilus-McCormick's 2021 tax preparer, was also indicted for conspiring to file a false federal tax return.

Prosecutors accuse all defendants of falsely claiming political and other personal expenditures as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions to reduce the Democrat congresswoman's tax obligations.

"Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

"No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice," she added... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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