by WorldTribune Staff, October 24, 2026 — Real World News
Jackie Espinosa, the mayor of Kissimmee, Florida, has been arrested and charged with grand theft and organized fraud over funds she received from a Covid relief program she created.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier accused Espinosa of illegally granting herself, her husband, and family members $50,000 from a city program she created that was meant to boost small businesses recovering from the pandemic, The Epoch Times reported on Thursday.
Espinosa created, funded, expanded, and promoted the Kissimmee Business Boost 2.0 for small businesses and submitted her applications before anyone else on the first day it opened, which prosecutors alleged violated state law.
“The evidence makes very clear there was intent to engage in this conflict of interest, then ultimately abused her office to enrich herself,” Uthmeier said during a press conference Wednesday.
The mayor and her family own several local businesses, including the Adanse, Real Estate Gallery, Matador Tacos and Tapas, and Empresas Espinosa. At the time of the applications, they also owned Kissimmee Diner.
Espinosa, who was elected mayor in 2024, was charged with one count of grand theft and one count of defrauding to obtain property, first- and second-degree felonies, according to Uthmeier.
While the office of the Mayor of Kissimmee is officially nonpartisan, Espinosa is a registered Democrat.
Espinosa’s lawyer, Migdalia Perez, told The Epoch Times: “This case involves a publicly approved grant program administered by city staff, not a secret scheme to steal taxpayer money. There is a fundamental difference between an alleged ethics violation and a criminal offense.”
A state financial audit of the city’s pandemic funding was performed as a routine matter, according to Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who oversees the state’s financial services.
Auditors noticed irregularities in the city’s Boost program, Ingoglia said, with funds allegedly linked directly and indirectly to the mayor.
“This led my team to look further,” Ingoglia said.
The audit found three applications signed by Espinosa and filed before all other applications the day the funds became available, according to Ingoglia.
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