DOJ Drops COVID Fraud Charges For Former Florida GOP State Rep Whose Lawyer Is Pam Bondi’s Brother

August 7, 2025 Trump Administration, Trump Corruption

ABC News reports:

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday moved to dismiss criminal charges against a woman accused of fraud in Florida who was being represented in court by Brad Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The Biden Justice Department filed a criminal complaint against Carolina Amesty, a former Republican lawmaker, in mid-January — just days before President Donald Trump took office. Amesty faced two counts of theft of government property related to COVID relief fraud and, if convicted, faced a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

But on Wednesday morning, Brad Bondi claimed in court papers that “counsel for Ms. Amesty learned [last month] that the government had ceased its criminal investigation … and withdrew its outstanding subpoenas.”

From my report last month:  

Former Republican state Rep. Karoline Amesty is facing two counts of theft of government property after being accused of illegally obtaining $122,000 in pandemic relief funds meant to help small businesses through her foundation and a car dealership. The federal complaint said she used the money to pay her credit cards, buy furniture and spend on other businesses that she and her family ran.

Brad Bondi, the brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, wrote that “the charges are baseless and the case should be dismissed.” “The Economic Injury Disaster Loans in question — primarily to Christian organizations — were obtained appropriately in good faith and with no misrepresentations. These are not the actions of a criminal but a person who tried to — and did — get it right,” Brad Bondi wrote in the filing.

From my January 2025 report:

Months after being voted out of office, former State Representative Carolina Amesty (R-Windermere) has been charged with federal crimes related to a pandemic-era relief program. According to the filing, Amesty and a relative received more than $500,000 across 15 COVID-19 disaster loans. The loans Amesty received or was approved for included $150,000 to her family’s school, Central Christian University, and Amesty’s nonprofit.

Investigators said they visited another location Amesty applied for, where she listed the address as Dinocar Auto Sales. However, they said a worker for a construction company that operated at the address she gave had never heard of the car dealership. The charges stem specifically from the loans to the Carolina Amesty Foundation and Dinocar Auto Sales, which totaled $122,000. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, for a total of 20 if Amesty is convicted.

Amesty appeared here in August 2024 when she was arrested on separate forgery charges related to her work as an administrator for Central Christian University. Those charged were dropped on DeSantis’s orders.

On the day of that arrest, she retweeted Trump’s claim of “PERSECUTION OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT!” and followed up with a quote from the bible.

Amnesty earned national scorn in 2022 when she donated bottles of water to a Hurricane Ian relief drive with her campaign photo on the bottles.



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