Oops, Hope Florida Foundation to amend tax return

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Hope Florida Foundation will amend its tax return to show the Governor’s Cup golf tournament made money.

In April, after the Foundation released its Form 990, which covered the period from August 25, 2023, to June 30, 2024, I reported that the tournament, which was supposed to be a fundraising powerhouse for the Hope Florida initiative championed by First Lady Casey DeSantis, actually lost money.

Schedule G, Part II provides info on the Governor’s Cup:

Days earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife held a press event at Pensacola State College. He made bold claims about raising “massive amounts of money” through his Governor’s Cup charity golf tournament:

“We do a Governor’s Cup; we raise money for charity. We did the Governor’s Cup last year. We did it over in Watersound, we did this Governor’s Cup. We raised massive amounts of money in the Governor’s Cup for the charitable, the direct support organization affiliated with Hope Florida.”

Now, the foundation’s attorney Jeff Aaron claims the tournament had a net profit of nearly $700K. The donations were $785,000, not $425,000 as reported earlier, and the expenses were only $95,547.

The Orlando Sentinel reports Carroll & Company prepared the tax return. The Tallahassee accounting firm also handled the books for the political action committee Keep Florida, the one set up by then DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier that got money from Hope Florida, and DeSantis’ Florida Freedom Fund.

Background

Uthmeier and Aaron

The evidence strongly suggests that James Uthmeier (then DeSantis’s chief of staff, now Attorney General) and Jeff Aaron (the Hope Florida Foundation’s attorney) orchestrated the scheme. Rep. Alex Andrade, who led the House investigation, stated he is “firmly convinced that James Uthmeier and Jeff Aaron engaged in a conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud”.

Here’s how they manipulated the system:

1. Strategic Timing and Coordination:

• • On October 11, 2024, Uthmeier personally reached out to Amy Ronshausen of Save Our Society From Drugs, telling her to request $5 million from the Hope Florida Foundation, according to text reportedly obtained by the Associated Press.
  • Aaron then followed up with Ronshausen and sent her Secure Florida’s Future’s application as a template.
  • The grant applications were submitted within days (October 13 and 18), and payments were made the same month

2. Creating Legal Cover:

• • Foundation Chairman Joshua Hay testified that he “got assurances through Jeff Aaron” that the grants were “above board.”
  • Aaron was the foundation’s attorney and chairs Uthmeier’s political committee, “Friends of James Uthmeier.” He is also listed on Attorney General Uthmeier’s transition team. Aaron’s close relationship with Uthmeier points to a possible conflict of interest.

The Money Laundering Scheme

The flow of funds reveals the sophisticated nature of the setup:

• $67 million Medicaid settlement with Centene, with $10 million directed to Hope Florida Foundation
• Foundation immediately sent $5 million each to two dark money nonprofits
• Those organizations sent $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean (Uthmeier’s anti-marijuana PAC)
• Keep Florida Clean then gave $11.5 million to the Republican Party of Florida

Evidence of Deception and Setup

SOS Board Was Kept in the Dark: James Holton, chairman of Save Our Society from Drugs (SOS), resigned and stated that his organization’s board was unaware that their executive director had accepted $5 million from the foundation and then donated it to political committees.

Key Players Felt Misled: On April 24, Rep. Alex Andrade told reporters after the committee meeting that the parent organization of Save Our Society From Drugs — Drug Free America — “feels misled by Jeff Aaron and James Uthmeier.”

• He also said on that same day: “They’ve activated their insurance policy. They’re concerned about liability. They’re taking steps to rectify that, and they’ve already provided some documents in response to our request for documents.”

Systematic Legal Violations: A House analysis found that the Hope Florida Foundation “appears to be out of compliance with multiple state laws.”

1. Audit Requirements:

• Failed to submit an annual audit to the state’s auditor general as required by Florida law

2. Public Disclosure Failures:

• Haven’t published legally required information, including a brief description of its mission
• Failed to publish a three-year financial plan
• Haven’t published its code of ethics
• Failed to publish its tax forms

3. Regulatory Filing Failures:

• Website records from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, where nonprofits are required to report financial information, did not include any documents from the Hope Florida Foundation.