A federal grand jury in Miami on Wednesday indicted Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and several co-defendants, accusing them of stealing about $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster-relief funds and channeling the money into her 2021 congressional campaign, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors allege that Cherfilus-McCormick, who represents Florida’s 20th District covering parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, worked with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, to divert a large overpayment tied to a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract awarded to their family’s home-health-care business. The indictment says the defendants moved the money through multiple accounts to hide where it came from, then routed a significant share of the FEMA funds into campaign contributions. Authorities also claim the congresswoman conspired with her tax preparer to file a false federal return.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s office did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment Wednesday evening.
Why It Matters
The indictment arrives as Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, is already under intense scrutiny for her family company’s pandemic-era finances. In late 2024, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management sued Trinity Healthcare Services—the firm she led before entering Congress—alleging it overcharged the state by nearly $5.8 million for COVID-19 vaccination registration work and refused to return the money. State officials said concerns were triggered after a single $5 million overpayment raised alarms about how Trinity handled major public contracts during the pandemic.
Those state allegations also contributed to an ethics inquiry into the congresswoman’s sharply rising personal income. The Office of Congressional Ethics reported in January that Cherfilus-McCormick’s earnings in 2021 exceeded her prior year’s income by more than $6 million, largely due to nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees from Trinity. In July, the House Ethics Committee unanimously voted to extend its investigation into whether she improperly benefited from the company’s government work, placing her under rare bipartisan scrutiny even before Wednesday’s federal charges.
What To Know
According to the indictment, Trinity received a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021 and then, in July of that year, was overpaid by roughly $5 million. Prosecutors say the defendants conspired to keep and redirect those funds. The indictment alleges a straw-donor operation in which Cherfilus-McCormick and co-defendant Nadege Leblanc arranged for friends and relatives to make campaign “donations” that were actually financed by the illicit FEMA money.
The indictment also charges Cherfilus-McCormick and tax preparer David K. Spencer with conspiring to file a false tax return. Prosecutors claim they mislabeled campaign and personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions to reduce tax liabilities.
Cherfilus-McCormick was born in Brooklyn and earned a B.A. from Howard University and a J.D. from St. Thomas University School of Law. Before winning a 2022 special election, she served as CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, the Miramar-based company now central to the dispute. She won the seat after the death of longtime Rep. Alcee Hastings, becoming the only Haitian-American Democrat elected to Congress.
What Happens Next
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement, “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.”
Elijah Manley, who is challenging Cherfilus-McCormick in the Democratic primary for her House seat, posted on X that the indictment was “a sad moment” for the district, adding that he believes voters are ready to move beyond “fraud, corruption, and distractions.”
Both the ethics and criminal investigations remain ongoing. Prosecutors say Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted, while her brother faces up to 35 years.
