Florida congresswoman charged with stealing COVID funds

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(Reuters) -A federal grand jury in Florida has indicted U.S. Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick on charges of stealing federal COVID-19 relief funds and directing the money to her 2021 congressional campaign, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Representatives for Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

She has previously denied wrongdoing, local media reported.

The indictment accuses Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and others of receiving a $5 million overpayment through her family-owned healthcare company and routing the money through multiple accounts to disguise its source.

The company had a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract funded by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Justice Department said in a press release.

“Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants,” the statement said.

Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2022 to complete the term of the late Representative Alcee Hastings, who died in April 2021 at age 84 after holding the Miami-area seat for 28 years.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Kevin Buckland)