A federal watchdog says the Energy Foundation China (EF China) and U.S. Energy Foundation (US EF) violated Florida fundraising regulations.

Americans for Public Trust (APT), a group focused on foreign dark money fundraising, sent a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson alleging the nonprofit groups broke Florida’s Solicitation of Contributions Act. That requires any nonprofits soliciting donations in Florida to register with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs — and now bars registered entities from taking money from any “foreign source of concern.”

“EF China, an organization ‘that works with the Chinese government on climate change issues,’ is one of the most prolific processers of foreign dark money,” wrote Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director of APT, in a six-page letter to Simpson.

The organization says EF China directs money in different nations through other nonprofits.

“While this foreign funding — which is mostly pushing extremist environmental policies — has been exposed, countless more millions could very-well be flowing into EF China from the United States’ adversaries, as EF China has selectively disclosed only certain ‘key funders.’ As such, the systemic interconnectedness between EF China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accentuates the urgent need for extensive inquiry,” the letter reads.

The message ties several EF China officials, including organization President Ji Zou and Executive Director of International Cooperation Huiyong Zhang, to the Chinese Communist Party.

EF China has registered in Florida as a charitable foundation since 2018. US EF, a San Francisco-based organization with the same U.S. address as EF’s China’s American office, has registered in Florida since 2022.

But APT said changes signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024 mean any connection to a “foreign country of concern” puts both groups in conflict with Florida law. State statute lists China specifically as a nation registered nonprofits cannot be funded by and still solicit charitable contributions in Florida.

“There is substantial evidence suggesting that both EF China and U.S. EF may have accepted funding or other things of value directly or indirectly from Chinese sources or facilitators,” the letter reads.

Besides EF China listing in its mission statement a desire of “contributing to China’s accomplishment of an early carbon peak and carbon neutrality,” the nonprofit has an office in Beijing and acts there under oversight of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, a Department of the nation’s State Council.

While the Beijing office is listed as a foreign branch on registration paperwork, APT says more employees for EF China work in China than in the U.S. Moreover, a number of employees for the nonprofit previously held positions with the Chinese government or communist party there.

US EF, meanwhile, has always operated as a U.S. spinoff of EF China, receiving reimbursements for expenses. That means that group, too, should not be able to solicit funds in Florida, by APT’s read.

Sutherland urges Simpson’s Department to investigate whether and to what extent both nonprofits have operated in violation of state law.

“We further request that, if so determined, the Department pursue appropriate civil and criminal penalties for any violations of the Act that it uncovers in the course of its investigation of EF China and US EF,” the letter concludes.