A daughter of former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness was this week slapped with fraud charged for allegedly operating a scheme to pocket marketing campaign funds whereas working as a treasurer for her father’s 2020 county fee run.
Prosecutors declare Richelle Holness diverted funds from her father’s marketing campaign account for private expenditures, together with alcohol, airline tickets, quick meals, and clothes from August 2019 by way of October 2020. She is dealing with two felony counts — one associated to the marketing campaign funding allegations and one other stemming from alleged pandemic reduction fraud.
In line with the charging doc obtained by Miami New Times, Richelle Holness issued checks from the marketing campaign account and filed studies falsely stating that the cash was used for consulting, printing, and different companies associated to the marketing campaign.
Holness allegedly directed three co-conspirators who acquired the checks to return all or virtually the entire funds to her by both Money App, one other test, or cashier’s test.
In a minimum of one occasion, prosecutors say, she directed a co-conspirator to make use of the diverted marketing campaign cash to pay the lease for her father’s actual property enterprise. The actual property firm, All Broward Realty, was opened in 1988 and was at one point run by Richelle.
The charging doc additionally alleges that in 2020, Richelle crammed out a fraudulent software for the Pandemic Unemployment Help program and claimed to be unemployed so she might acquire emergency advantages. The quantity she is accused of receiving was not included.
She is scheduled to look in federal courtroom in Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 10 to handle the allegations.
Second daughter to be charged with fraud
Holness is the second daughter of the previous mayor to be charged with fraud within the Southern District of Florida.
Damara Holness pleaded responsible to mendacity on a COVID-19 mortgage software to get $300,000 through the pandemic. She was sentenced to a 20-month jail time period in January 2022, and launched in Could, in response to jail information.
Dale Holness’ long-standing political profession
Jamaican-born Dale Holness was a Broward County Commissioner representing District 9 for over a decade, beginning in 2010. Earlier than then, he served as a Lauderhill Metropolis Commissioner and Vice Mayor.
In November 2019, he was unanimously appointed by the Broward Fee to function the Mayor of Broward County for a one-year time period by way of November 2020. He was the primary Jamaican-American to be elected mayor of the county.
In 2021, he contested the congressional seat for Florida’s District 20 that had been held by the late Alcee Hastings. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Haitian-American, defeated Holness by simply 5 votes within the particular Democratic major race.
Learn extra: Dale Holness to Run for Congress Again
