Florida grand jury says DeSantis administration misappropriated $10 million from Medicaid settlement

A Florida grand jury found Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-Fla.) administration “misappropriated” a payment from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation — an organization “championed” by first lady Casey DeSantis. The grand jury argued the $10 million transfer was "part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities," according to a copy of the...

$10 million from a Medicaid settlement found its way into a charity tied to the wife of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Despite what a grand jury called a clear misappropriation of funds, no criminal charges are being filed. CBS News Miami investigative reporter Jim DeFede has the details.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration “misappropriated” $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement to lobby against weed. According to a Florida grand jury report, which was first obtained by CBS News, the money moved from a state Medicaid settlement, to a charity tied to his wife Casey DeSantis, to a pair of dark-money PACs, and finally into a campaign to help kill a marijuana legalization ballot measure opposed by the governor.It is not clear who directed the transfer of funds, which were meant to help poor children receive health insurance, the grand jury noted. As a result, the grand jury did not “find insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally.” “Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida,” the jury concluded. “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.”The grand jury’s report is dated January 28, 2026, and is still officially sealed.The Hope Florida Foundation is the fundraising arm of a charity, Hope Florida, started by Casey DeSantis in 2021. The organization intends to connect low-income families with churches and local groups to keep them off public assistance. In its own words, Hope Florida goes “beyond government to create a pathway for Floridians to live up to their God-given potential and accomplish the American Dream.” The $10 million transferred to the charity was initially part of a Medicaid settlement between the state of Florida and Centene Corporation, a for-profit health care company, over claims of overbilling. In February 2023, Centene Corporation offered to pay the entire $67,048,611 settlement to the state. More than a year and a half later, the settlement was split up: “On September 27, 2024, State of Florida officials agreed that Centene would pay $57,048,611 to the State of Florida and $10,000,000 to Hope Florida Foundation, Inc.,” the grand jury’s report read. “Within days, the $10,000,000 was transferred to other organizations for political purposes because money was spent on a political campaign and went to the Republican Party of Florida.”According to the grand jury report, “after the money was transferred to Hope Florida, it was quickly funneled from there into two political action committees”—$5 million to Secure Florida’s Future and $5 million to Save Our Society From Drugs, both “dark money” groups that are not required to release detailed financial reports. The two groups then used the cash to bankroll Keep Florida Clean, another PAC created specifically to oppose a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana. Although the marijuana amendment was popular across the state, it ultimately failed.The report goes on to implicate a series of officials in Florida state government who may have had knowledge of the transaction, including Republican Senate candidate Ashley Moody, who was the state’s attorney general at the time. Moody allegedly “authorized” her chief deputy John Guard to sign the settlement agreement diverting $10 million to Hope Florida.When asked about the grand jury’s report on Thursday, DeSantis claimed the only crime that was “apparent was whoever leaked the grand jury report.”

Grand jury declined to indict anyone but said there was a ‘sophisticated scheme’ to use funds for political activityUS politics live – latest updatesA Florida grand jury has found that the administration of the governor, Ron DeSantis, “misappropriated” $10m in taxpayer money from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity with ties to DeSantis’s wife, before the money was reportedly “funneled” into “two political action committees”.In the grand jury report, which remains sealed but was obtained and published by CBS News Miami on Wednesday, the grand jurors wrote that “we conclude that these funds were misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” but said that they found “insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally”. Continue reading...

The DeSantis administration "misappropriated" funds when it sent $10 million from a Medicaid settlement to the Casey DeSantis-aligned Hope Florida Foundation, a grand jury found, according to a leaked report.

A charity tied to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s wife received the money from a state Medicaid settlement and diverted it to political committees supporting a cause favored by the governor.