A Grandy Jury Found Florida Misappropriated Funds Sent To Charity. It Was Run By The Governor’s Wife.

A grand jury found that $10 million from a Medicaid settlement in Florida was misappropriated and possibly used for political purposes.

CBS News reported that the "misappropriated" $10 million was funneled through the Hope Florida Foundation, a charitable organization lead by Casey DeSantis, Gov. Ron DeSantis' wife. The money was then allegedly disbursed for political purposes.

Despite its findings, the grand jury stated it had insufficient evidence for criminal charges to be filed.

"Despite our finding that the money was misappropriated, we find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally," the report concluded. "Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida... or had any memory of who made it."

"We recognize that this would be an impediment to criminal prosecution," the report stated. "While we can't prove who is responsible, we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again."

Hope Florida was founded in 2021 by Casey DeSantis with the goal of connecting Floridians to the services they needed. The organization says that it acts as a conduit between government, churches, and other nonprofits to provide services.

"We firmly believe that more government is not always the best solution to the problem. Instead, government is utilized as a meaningful connection point and then gets out of the way," the organization website states. "Our partnerships with the private sector, faith-based communities, and nonprofits bridge the gap between Floridians in need and local community resources available to them."

In 2024, a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana was being considered. Gov. DeSantis opposed the measure. Eventually, the ballot initiative was favored by most Florida voters, but it failed to meet the 60 percent threshold to pass. Various groups, including a political action committee called Keep Florida Clean opposed the measure and was chaired by then-Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

The outlet noted that Centene Corp. had agreed to a $67 million Medicaid settlement with Florida related to overbilling. The company was then instructed to send $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. Around the same time, two grant applications for $5 million each came into Hope and were approved.

CBS News reported that $5 million went to Secure Florida's Future. That organization then sent $3.75 million to a Keep Florida Clean. Another $5 million grant was approved to Save Our Society from Drugs, and then $4.75 million was transferred to Keep Florida Clean.

The grand jury report also questioned whether the Hope Florida Foundation actually anything did: "Hope Florida was touted by some witnesses as a high-profile project with a high success rate, but we were unable to get any evidence to substantiate these representations," the report stated. "On the contrary, other witnesses referred to Hope Florida as just a concept and did not have a clear understanding of what it did, where it existed, or how it operated."