Miramar was hub for alleged fraud scheme led by Florida congresswoman, feds say
A 33-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday, Nov. 20, reveals how U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly used her Miramar home and businesses as the central hub for a sprawling scheme to misappropriate $5 million in FEMA-funded COVID-19 relief funds and manipulate campaign finances.
She allegedly also used the funds to purchase a 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring from a New York jeweler, the indictment alleges.
Throughout the indictment, Miramar emerges as the operational center — the home and businesses from which Cherfilus-McCormick allegedly coordinated the flow of money, oversaw contributions and monitored the scheme, according to filings in the Southern District of Florida.
“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat, wrote in a statement Nov. 20. “The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues. From day one, I have fully cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.”
Prosecutors say it all began when Cherfilus-McCormick kept $5,057,850 mistakenly wired to Trinity Healthcare Services, a Miramar company tied to her family where she first worked as its CEO. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trinity supplied nurses and clerical staff to state-run vaccination sites.
“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.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin, submitted an invoice to the Florida Department of Emergency Services in May 2021 for $50,578.50 for work performed by the health care company.
Two months later, the department accidentally added a few extra zeros and issued a payment of $5,057,850 into a Trinity-affiliated bank account controlled by Cherfilus-McCormick.
The congresswoman texted her brother a screenshot of the deposit, which the indictment says “was the result of a clerical error by FDEM.” Cherfilus and her brother then allegedly launched a scheme to transfer the funds into a constellation of accounts tied to Miramar-based businesses formed for the purpose of hiding the money.
The indictment outlines 15 counts against Cherfilus-McCormick, including conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations, making and receiving straw donor contributions, conspiracy to file false tax returns, aiding and assisting in false tax filings and falsifying federal records. She faces as much as 53 years in prison, if convicted.
An estimated $1.4 million of the money allegedly went to finance Cherfilus-McCormick’s successful 2021 run for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, where she defeated former Broward Mayor Daryl Holness by five votes. Investigators say that from her Miramar headquarters, the congresswoman directed campaign contributions, monitored donations and coordinated falsified IRS filings, according to the indictment.
From June to August 2021, according to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick and her aide and chief of staff, Nadege Leblanc, allegedly conspired to make campaign contributions in the names of friends, family and other straw donors, concealing that Trinity was the true source of more than $25,000 in donations.
The scheme involved sending funds from her some of her Miramar bank accounts to intermediaries, who then distributed cash to straw donors.
Text messages from June 2021 show Cherfilus-McCormick providing detailed instructions about who should contribute and in what amounts. Contributions were made via personal checks and online platforms, then falsely reported to the FEC as coming from the straw donors themselves.
“Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick is a committed public servant, who is dedicated to her constituents. We will fight to clear her good name,” her attorneys, David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss, and Melissa Madrigal, said in a joint statement.
Prosecutors also allege that Cherfilus-McCormick worked with tax preparer David Kofi Spencer of Davie to file fraudulent 2021 tax returns.
The returns allegedly inflated her Miramar-based company SCM Consulting’s business expenses by over $4.6 million, claimed $1.2 million in charitable contributions that were never made and underreported her taxable income and tax liability. Spencer, who was also indicted, allegedly submitted the false returns electronically from Barbados and altered supporting documents to conceal the fraud.
The indictment details millions in misreported contributions and business expenses, highlighting the involvement of aides, family members, and tax preparers. In addition to the $5 million, federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the valuable diamond ring.
In 2024, the federal government sued Trinity over the same overpayment. Court records indicate there appears to have been a settlement in that case.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM.
