Questions are swirling around Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after a new report found that $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was diverted through a charity linked to his wife to political committees to kill a ballot initiative.
That's according to a new report in The New York Times on Thursday evening, which peeled back the curtain on what it called a "mystery" surrounding the missing $10 million.
The money originated from a larger $67 million settlement with Centene, a Medicaid contractor accused of overbilling the state for prescription drugs. The $10 million was paid directly to the nonprofit organization Hope Florida, a charity founded by Casey DeSantis meant to help people stay off government assistance.
"Within weeks, the money was gone — not to churches or other groups helping the needy," The Times wrote.
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Instead, the organization "quietly funneled it to two nonprofit political committees that helped Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies defeat a November ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana."
The missing money has embroiled DeSantis in a scandal, with even members of his own party publicly criticizing him.
That includes Florida state Rep. Alex Andrade (R) who led a House investigation into the money. He said the diverted cash could amount to “conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud.”
“It is readily apparent that a culture of neglect, incompetence and entitlement exists within the halls of the governor’s office at this time,” Andrade said, according to The Times.
State investigators said the money was transferred to a pair of "dark money" political groups that don't have to disclose their donors. Those groups then sent about $8.5 million to a political committee that was fighting an amendment that would legalize pot in the state, according to NPR.
The DeSantis administration has said the $10 million was not Medicaid funding.
"The whole thing that the House leadership is doing is a manufactured fraud," DeSantis said recently. "This is a hoax. They are trying to smear one of the most successful programs anywhere in the country."
The scandal comes as Casey DeSantis mulls a bid to run for governor next year.