[JURIST] Congresswoman Corrine Brown and her chief of staff Elias “Ronnie” Simmons were charged in a 24-count indictment [indictment, PDF] unsealed Friday for involvement in a bogus non-profit scholarship entity. Among the charges are multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, theft of government property, concealing materials facts on required financial disclosure forms, and filing false tax returns. After the announcement was made on Friday, Assistant Attorney General Caldwell stated [press release] that Brown and Simmons had “solicit[ed] over $800,000 in donations to a supposed charitable organization only to use the organization as a personal slush fund.” The alleged non-profit scholarship fund, called One Door for Education – Amy Anderson Scholarship Fund (One Door), primarily received donations from individuals and corporate entities the two had dealt with due to Brown’s position in the House of Representatives. According to the indictment, only two scholarships totaling $1,200 were given to students for attending school and related costs. Simmons was charged with theft of government property for acquiring congressional employment for a relative and that relative having received $735,000 in government salary despite performing no work for the US House of Representatives. Simmons is also alleged to have diverted more than $80,000 of his relatives salary for personal use. The president of One Door Carla Wiley pleaded guilty [plea agreement, PDF] for her involvement in the fraudulent scheme earlier this year.

Brown has been a staunch challenger of Florida voting laws negatively affecting minorities. In April of this year Brown challenged [JURIST report] Florida’s current congressional district boundaries, arguing unsuccessfully that the law diminished the rights of minorities. The congressional districts were upheld by a three-judge panel. In 2012 Brown had previously challenged an early voting law in federal court. That court also ruled against Brown, holding that voters did not need to be provided 96 hours of early voting for November elections, despite claims by Brown and other African American leaders that the amendments to Florida’s previous early voting law were enacted “with the intent to discriminate against minority voters, or…operates to deny or abridge African American’s right to vote on account of their race.”