Florida files COVID-19 related suit after accidentally overpaying company $5 million

Last edited Fri Jan 10, 2025, 10:20 AM - Edit history (1)

An error in reading a decimal point can lead to a costly mistake. Just ask the state of Florida.

According to a lawsuit filed recently, Florida's Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) entered into a deal in 2021 with South Florida's Trinity Health Care Services to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations. And that June, FDEM meant to pay Trinity an invoice amount of $50,578.50.

But the state instead accidentally paid $5,057,850.00 to Trinity, an overage of five million bucks.

"Trinity took advantage of the state of emergency the entire country was encountering due to the COVID-19 pandemic and knowingly processed an invoice more than 100 times its typical invoice size," according to the state's lawsuit, filed recently in Leon Circuit Civil court.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/state/2025/01/08/florida-lawsuit-overpayment-covid-trinity-health-care-services/77508722007/

But this is the real kicker (from further on in the article):

"At the time the contract was signed, the CEO was Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, now a member of Congress and the subject of an unrelated House ethics complaint."

She's a Dem, BTW.