Florida Democrat Indicted On Federal Fraud Charges

Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been charged in a federal indictment with stealing federal disaster relief funds and using the money to support her campaign for Congress.

The Department of Justice said Wednesday that the lawmaker and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, conspired to launder $5 million from a contract awarded to a family company by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Prosecutors allege that a “substantial portion” of the money was used to support Cherfilus-McCormick's campaign for Congress in 2021.

Cherfilus-McCormick, who was charged in an indictment brought by a grand jury in Miami, is also accused of using straw donors to funnel funds from FEMA to friends, who then contributed to her campaign.

She’s also charged with conspiring to file a false federal tax return.

“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “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.”

Her attorneys, David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Melissa Madrigal, said in a joint statement that the lawmaker is "a committed public servant, who is dedicated to her constituents" and will "fight to clear her good name."

Cherfilus-McCormick entered Congress after winning that 2021 Democratic primary, a heavily contested special election for the seat in the Fort Lauderdale area held by Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died while in office. Cherfilus-McCormick won the primary by five votes over former Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness and won the 2022 general election in a landslide.

Part of her path to a narrow primary victory included her significant spending advantage over the rest of the field. Cherfilus-McCormick loaned her campaign $3.7 million and outspent her opponents.

In 2023, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick to investigate whether she violated campaign finance laws during the special election or her reelection later that year. That investigation has uncovered additional suspicious activity flagged by the Office of Congressional Conduct.