House ethics panel zeroes in on donations to Florida lawmaker from Haiti company
South Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyer told the House Ethics Committee on Thursday that she had no knowledge that hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Haitian oil company flowed into her campaign as she fought to hold onto her congressional seat after becoming the state’s first Haitian American elected to Congress.
“I can tell you that her position is she was not aware of it and would be happy to testify to that,” said her attorney William Barzee, after failing to get a postponement of a rare public hearing into allegations that the third-term congresswoman disregarded rules and ethical standards, including using her position to benefit her allies.
Separately, Cherfilus-McCormick is facing criminal charges in a 15-count conspiracy indictment along with her brother. She is accused of funnelling $1.14 million of a $5 milion overpayment that she received from the state for COVID-19 services into her 2021 congressional campaign and also using $109,000 to purchase a 3.14-carat yellow diamond ring. She has pleaded not guilty.
On Thursday, however, it was her alleged ethics violations that came under scrutiny as multiple lawmakers zeroed in on the funds from the Haiti-affiliated oil company. An investigative subcommittee made up of members of Congress has accused Cherfilus-McCormick of 27 counts involving alleged ethics violations including failing to uphold U.S. money-laundering laws by soliciting and accepting “an improper campaign contribution” from PetroGaz Haiti, a company that cannot lawfully donate to a federal campaign.
The House Ethics Committee released a statement Friday morning saying they found 25 of 27 counts “proven by clear and convincing evidence.” The allegations of money laundering related to funds from the Haitian oil company was one of just two charges the committee omitted from their judgment.
Brittney Pescatore, the committee’s director of investigations, tried to outline Thursday how funds were routed from PetroGaz Haiti to a newly created organization called Progressive People Inc. and later toward campaign expenses.
Investigators say PetroGaz Haiti, whose only income in 2022 was $12.5 million from the Haitian government, indirectly donated $810,000 that same year to cover campaign expenses through Progressive People — a newly formed, tax-exempt political organization that Pescatore described as a “shell company.”
The organization was created by the congresswoman’s husband Corlie McCormick, who served as its vice president, and her friend, North Miami Beach Mayor Michael Joseph. Joseph headed the group.
“Those two individuals own that the organization and were on the bank records” Pescatore said.
READ MORE: Haiti oil money, local mayors surface in new Cherfilus-McCormick allegations
The amount accounted for roughly 90% of the Progressive People’s income, and the majority of the money — $725,000 — was later transferred to a now-dissolved company, Truth & Justice Inc., which then made unreported expenditures supporting the congresswoman’s campaign, according to the ethics committee. Most of Truth & Justice’s operations were run by the congresswoman’s campaign consultant, ethics staffers said.
Cherfilus-McCormick met with the company’s owner, Hallandale Beach resident Frederic Elusma, and his wife, and Elusma’s son later served as an intern in her office after she won re-election to Congress, Pescatore told lawmakers.
“Shortly before that money started to move from PetroGaz Haiti into Progressive People, there are records” of the congresswoman meeting with the company’s owner and his wife, Pescatore said. The meet and greet with PetroGaz Haiti was noted in a calendar entry, she said during Thursday’s hearing.
Barzee throughout the proceedings disputed the allegations that Cherfilus-McCormick violated House ethics rules or participated in a campaign finance scheme.
“It sounds like their only evidence that she had any knowledge of any of this is that she attended a fundraiser or something with individuals from PetroGaz the day before this happened? That’s their proof that she was aware of it, that she decided that she made a conscious decision not to support the money laundering laws in the United States?” said Barzee, the congresswoman’s attorney.
Pescatore said the subcommittee wasn’t able to question the congresswoman or the owners of PetroGaz Haiti, a Florida-based corporation linked to a number of well-connected individuals in Haiti, including a former senator who has been sanctioned by the State Department.
But there is “clear and convincing evidence of her intent” that PetroGaz Haiti was contributing to her campaign “through shell corporations and her closest associates,” Pescatore said.
In response to questions from Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey, ethics committee staff said they wanted to be “very clear” that they were not accusing the Congresswoman of accepting any unlawful foreign donations.
“The committee has not, it is not suggesting that it has the evidence to show that she knew that Petrogaz Haiti got all its money from the Haitian government, Pescatore said. “But that she did have reason to know that Petrogaz Haiti was a corporation who could not donate to her campaign.”
The investigation, which began in 2023, included 28 witness interviews and a review of more than 33,000 documents, including bank records and text messages. Some of those messages were read aloud during the hearing as Barzee argued there was no “lack of candor” by the congresswoman, who was also accused of stonewalling the inquiring and refusing to cooperate.
Barzee on Thursday pleaded for a postponement telling lawmakers that the rare public hearing risked tainting jurors in her separate federal trial where she faces criminal charges that she used stolen COVID-19 relief funds to win a seat in Congress, projecting herself as a wealthy individual to win a highly competitive seat.
“There’s still no evidence that the congresswoman had any knowledge of any of this,” Mr. Barzee said. “We dispute these facts.”
This story has been updated to reflect the House Ethics Committee’s announcement Friday morning.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 9:43 AM.
