MIAMI (AP) — U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been charged with stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to help her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The Democrat is accused of stealing overpayments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that her family health care company had received through a federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors said. Some of the money was then funneled to support his campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.

“Using disaster relief funds for personal enrichment is a particularly selfish and cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all the powerful people who steal from taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

A phone message left with Cherfilus-McCormick’s Washington office was not immediately returned.

FILE - Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., condemns hate speech and misinformation about Haitian immigrants during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE – Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., condemns hate speech and misinformation about Haitian immigrants during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

via News

Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 in District 20, which represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, in a special election after the death of Rep. Alcee Hastings in 2021.

In December 2024, a Florida state agency sued a company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family, alleging that it had overcharged the state nearly $5.8 million for work performed during the pandemic and would not return the money.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said it made a series of overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services after hiring it in 2021 to register people for COVID-19 vaccines. The agency says it discovered the problem after a single $5 million overpayment drew attention.

Cherfilus-McCormick was Trinity’s chief executive at the time.

The Office of Congressional Ethics said in a January report that Cherfilus-McCormick’s revenue in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received from Trinity Healthcare Services.

In July, the House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations involving Cherfilus-McCormick.