By Michelle DeMarco, Florida Center for Government Accountability
No one was watching the store when $10 million in state Medicaid settlement money was diverted to the Casey DeSantis-led charity Hope Florida.
- A $67 million Medicaid settlement deal at the center of a criminal investigation reaching the top levels of the DeSantis Administration was struck without any oversight from the state’s Chief Financial Officer, in contravention of traditional practice and possibly of Florida law.
BACKGROUND: The Florida statute that governs money owed to the state requires the CFO to audit the “accounts of all the officers of the state” in regard to transactions like last year’s controversial settlement with Medicaid contractor Centene Corp. that saw $10 million in public proceeds funneled through the Casey DeSantis-affiliated Hope Florida Foundation to attack a referendum staunchly opposed by her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis, to legalize cannabis.
No Review
In addition, a Department of Financial Services Rule within the state’s Administrative Code requires agencies negotiating settlements to submit the proposed agreements to the CFO for review.
But no such review or audit was conducted of the Centene settlement by then-CFO Jimmy Patronis, who is now a Congressman, or the Department of Financial Services (DFS) he led.
Patronis’ Press Secretary Ryan Walker wrote in an email to the Florida Trident: “The Congressman had no approval role in the settlement and never heard of Hope Florida being involved. Since he is now in Congress, all records relating to the CFOs office should be accessible through a public record request at that office.” (Note: The orignal statement shared by Trident didn’t have the complete email. Inweekly received a copy of the email at 1:28 pm CDT, 5/28/25)
While DFS holds “broad authority to audit and settle state accounts,” said Devin Galetta, communications director for the agency, “DFS was not involved in this settlement agreement.” There was no additional explanation as to why the agency was not involved.
When contacted on the phone by the Trident, former Florida CFO Alex Sink said the settlement should have been vetted by the CFO and called for a separate probe into why that didn’t happen.
“It begs the question of whether the law was violated,” said Sink, a Democrat who served as the state’s CFO from 2007 to 2011. “There needs to be an investigation.”
The lack of financial oversight raises more questions about the propriety of the Centene settlement and the $10 million transfer to the Hope Florida Foundation, the money-raising arm of the Hope Florida state charity spearheaded by Casey DeSantis. The payment was shrouded in secrecy after it was approved last September by several state agencies, including the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and Florida’s Attorney General’s Office. Neither AHCA nor the Attorney General’s Office responded to questions from the Trident.
Uthmeier’s Role
Uthmeier has claimed no wrongdoing regarding the funneling of state Medicaid funds into his PAC. (Florida Channel)
Attorney General James Uthmeier figures prominently in the scandal. The 37-year-old Uthmeier was serving as chief of staff for Gov. Ron DeSantis at the time the Centene deal was made while also running Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee aimed at defeating a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational cannabis.
- When the Hope Florida Foundation received the $10 million, it dispersed the money to a pair of dark money non-profits, which then transferred $8.5 million to Uthmeier’s PAC.
- Amendment 3 received 56% of votes cast but failed to reach the 60% threshold required to pass, giving Uthmeier and his boss, DeSantis, a major political victory.
Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general by Gov. DeSantis earlier this year, has claimed no wrongdoing, but Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, who led a committee investigation into the $10 million payment, alleged during a committee hearing that Uthmeier committed money laundering and wire fraud with public funds that should have gone to financially disadvantaged Floridians.
Andrade forwarded the committee’s findings to the state attorney’s office, precipitating the criminal investigation, according to the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Capitol Bureau, which has played a leading role in the coverage. Both Ron and Casey DeSantis have defended the payment to the Hope Florida Foundation, with the governor claiming last Tuesday that the criminal investigation is “pure politics.”
Michelle DeMarco is an award-winning investigative reporter who returned to journalism after more than two decades in public service. Contact her at demarco@flcga.org. The article was originally published on FloridaTrident.org. We have permission to reprint under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
I wish we’d get to the part where Patronis starts dishing on all the other financial “irregularities” he didn’t know about. That staged Trump social media beg for him to run wasn’t for nothing.
Hope Florida is no doubt the tip of the iceberg concerning what the House of DeSanti has been up to, along with key members of their administration. (And yes, I mean “their” administration, and not “his.” )
Time to get cracking on choosing somebody to run the next reveal. Andrade can’t shoulder all the burden; I’m guessing there’s simply going to be too much of it, if they go after even a good percentage of what’s probably there. My popcorn’s on hold…still waiting for them to stop chewing around the edges, and get the real party started.