AP
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Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and utilizing some of the cash to assist her 2021 marketing campaign, the Justice Department introduced Wednesday.
The Florida Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her household well being care firm had acquired via a federally funded Covid-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors mentioned. A portion of the cash was then funneled to assist her marketing campaign via candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi mentioned in a press release. “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.”
A cellphone message left at Cherfilus-McCormick’s Washington workplace was not instantly returned.