MIAMI (AP) — Florida Rep. Sheila Chafferas McCormick has been charged with stealing $5 million from federal disaster funds and using some of it to support her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The Democratic congressman is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments his family health care company received through federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contracts, according to federal prosecutors. Some of the funds were then funneled to support her campaign through donations to candidates, prosecutors allege.
“Using disaster relief funds for personal gain is a particularly selfish and cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, including those in power who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts of this case and deliver justice.”
A phone message left at Charfilas McCormick’s Washington office was not immediately returned.
Charfilas McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 to represent parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties in a special election following the death of U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings in 2021.
In December 2024, Florida authorities file suit A company owned by Charfilas McCormick’s family overbilled the state nearly $5.8 million for work done during the pandemic and said it would not return the money.
The Florida Department of Emergency Management announced that it made a series of overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services in 2021 after hiring the company to perform coronavirus vaccination registration services. The agency said it discovered the problem after a single $5 million overpayment received attention.
Charfilas McCormick was Trinity’s CEO at the time.
The Office of Congressional Ethics stated: January report Charfilas McCormick’s 2021 income increased by more than $6 million over 2020, due to approximately $5.75 million in consulting fees and profit sharing fees received from Trinity Healthcare Services, the company said.
In July, the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously Reauthorizes an investigative subcommittee to investigate allegations relating to Charfilas McCormick.
