The case against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick apparently started with a clerical error that caused an extra $5 million to land in a company bank account in 2021, according to a federal grand jury indictment available Thursday.
Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother worked at Trinity Healthcare Services based in Miramar, Fla., which sent purchase orders to the Florida Division of Emergency Management for federal funds to pay for vaccination sites, the indictment states.
One invoice Edwin Cherfilus sent was for $50,578.50, but the FDEM instead sent $5,057,850.00 to an account where they were both authorized signers, according to the indictment.
Cherfilus-McCormick sent her brother a text message of a screenshot of the bank account depicting the overpayment, but the siblings did not return it, the indictment states.
Instead, the indictment alleges, they funneled the money into other accounts and used it for their own personal benefit and to fund her federal campaign committee.
The indictment posted Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida outlined a web of money transfers and campaign contributions, with the Justice Department accusing the defendants of routing it through accounts to disguise the source.
Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., faces 15 federal counts, including theft of government funds, money laundering, making and receiving straw donor contributions and conspiracy to make a false and fraudulent statement on a tax return, among other charges.
Prosecutors say money from Federal Emergency Management Agency went to support her 2021 congressional campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick has said she is innocent and called it “an unjust, baseless, sham indictment.” She said she has cooperated with every lawful request and will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.
Rep. Greg Steube said he would try to expel the Democrat from Congress.
Nadege Leblanc, who the indictment says was the congresswoman’s chief of staff for the district office and helped on her campaigns, was indicted on two counts — making and receiving straw donor contributions and conspiracy to make and receive straw donor contributions.
A tax preparer for Cherfilus-McCormick has also been indicted in the case.
The indictment detailed withdrawals from the Trinity Healthcare account after the overpayment arrived.
In one instance, weeks after the overpayment funds were made, Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother “caused a deposit” of $2.4 million into a bank account for SCM Consulting Group, a Florida-based consulting company that was registered with the state by Cherfilus-McCormick.
The indictment also provided further details into the government’s allegations that Cherfilus-McCormick engaged in a conspiracy to make and receive straw donor contributions.
“The purpose of the conspiracy was to facilitate and cause unlawful and unreported straw donor contributions from Trinity, through straw donors, to the SCM for Congress campaign in order to disguise the fact that Trinity was the true source of the funds that [Cherfilus-McCormick] and [LeBlanc] caused to be contributed to SCM for Congress,” the indictment states.
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