LUY-Development

Tag: mississippi department of human services

  • Favre Repaying $1.1 Million For No-Show Speeches, Mississippi Auditor Says

    Favre Repaying $1.1 Million For No-Show Speeches, Mississippi Auditor Says

    The NFL legend says he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is repaying $1.1 million in welfare money that he received for multiple speeches where he did not show up, the Mississippi state auditor said Wednesday.

    Auditor Shad White said his office received $500,000 from Favre on Wednesday, plus a commitment that Favre will repay the other $600,000 in installments over the next few months.

    Favre’s effort to repay the money came two days after White released an audit of spending by the Mississippi Department of Human Services that showed Favre had been paid by Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former leader has been indicted in a welfare embezzlement scheme.

    Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and the community education center had contracts with Human Services to spend money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF.

    “I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” White said in a statement Wednesday. “To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”

    The audit released Monday said the center paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018, and he was supposed to make speeches for at least three events. The auditor’s report said that “upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events.”

    Favre, who lives in Mississippi, faces no criminal charges. The audit report lists the payments to him as “questioned” costs, which White said means “auditors either saw clear misspending or could not verify the money had been lawfully spent.”

    In a Facebook post Wednesday night, Favre said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and Wisconsin, where he played the bulk of his Hall of Fame career with the Green Bay Packers.

    “My agent is often approached by different products or brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Family First,” Favre wrote.

    “I have never received moneys for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispensed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.

    “I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

    “It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”

    White said the money being repaid by Favre will be sent to the Department of Human Services.

    Favre has not returned multiple text messages sent to him by The Associated Press since Monday. His manager, Bus Cook, told AP on Wednesday: “We’ve got nothing to say.”

    In an audit, White said his employees identified $94 million in questionable spending by the agency, including payments for sports activities with no clear connection to helping needy people in one of the poorest states of the U.S.

    The audit was released months after a former Human Services director and five other people were indicted on state charges of embezzling about $4 million. They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in what White has called one of Mississippi’s largest public corruption cases in decades.

    “If there was a way to misspend money, it seems DHS leadership or their grantees thought of it and tried it,” White said.

    John Davis was director of the Department of Human Services from January 2016 until July 2019, appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant — a Republican who also appointed White to office when a previous auditor stepped down. Davis was one of the people indicted; another was Nancy New, who was director of the Mississippi Community Education Center. Davis, New and the others indicted have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

    AP left a phone message Wednesday at Mississippi Community Education Center’s Jackson office with questions about the payments to Favre. There was no immediate response.

    The auditor’s report said Human Services leaders, particularly Davis, “participated in a widespread and pervasive conspiracy to circumvent internal controls, state law, and federal regulations” to direct grant money to certain people and groups. Davis instructed two groups that received grants, the Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, to spend money with certain other people or groups, the auditor’s report said.

    White said the those two nonprofit groups received more than $98 million in Department of Human Services grants during the three years that ended June 30. Most of the money came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    The audit will be sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and federal officials will decide whether to sanction the state for misspending, White said.

    ____

    Associated Press sports writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this report from Aurora, Colorado.

  • Auditor: Favre Received Welfare Money For No-Show Speeches In Mississippi

    Auditor: Favre Received Welfare Money For No-Show Speeches In Mississippi

    Favre Enterprises was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A nonprofit group caught up in an embezzlement scheme in Mississippi used federal welfare money to pay former NFL quarterback Brett Favre $1.1 million for multiple speaking engagements but Favre did not show up for the events, the state auditor said Monday.

    Details about payments to Favre are included in an audit of the Mississippi Department of Human Services. State Auditor Shad White said his employees identified $94 million in questionable spending by the agency, including payments for sports activities with no clear connection to helping needy people in one of the poorest states of the U.S.

    The audit was released months after a former Human Services director and five other people were indicted on state charges of embezzling about $4 million. They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in what White has called one of Mississippi’s largest public corruption cases in decades.

    “If there was a way to misspend money, it seems DHS leadership or their grantees thought of it and tried it,” White said Monday.

    White said the Human Services audit “shows the most egregious misspending my staff have seen in their careers.”

    Payments to Favre were made by Mississippi Community Education Center, a group that had contracts with the Department of Human Services to spend money through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The audit says Favre Enterprises was paid $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018, and he was supposed to make speeches for at least three events. The auditor’s report says that “upon a cursory review of those dates, auditors were able to determine that the individual contracted did not speak nor was he present for those events.”

    Favre, who lives in Mississippi, faces no criminal charges. The audit report lists the payments to him as “questioned” costs, which White said means “auditors either saw clear misspending or could not verify the money had been lawfully spent.” The Associated Press on Monday sent questions to Favre by text message and left a message for him with his longtime agent Bus Cook, and Favre did not immediately respond.

    John Davis was director of the Department of Human Services from January 2016 until July 2019, appointed by then-Gov. Phil Bryant — a Republican who also appointed White to office when a previous auditor stepped down. Davis was one of the people indicted; another was Nancy New, who was director of the Mississippi Community Education Center. Davis, New and the others indicted have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

    The auditor’s report said that Department of Human Services leaders, particularly Davis, “participated in a widespread and pervasive conspiracy to circumvent internal controls, state law, and federal regulations” to direct grant money to certain people and groups. Davis instructed two groups that received grants, the Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, to spend money with certain other people or groups, the auditor’s report said.

    White said the those two nonprofit groups received more than $98 million in Department of Human Services grants during the three years that ended June 30. Most of the money came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    White said the audit will be sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and federal officials will decide whether to sanction the state for misspending, White said.

    The audit said the Mississippi Community Education Center awarded contracts for services to Davis’ relatives, including to a company owned by his brother-in-law and his nephew. It said that Family Resource Center used welfare money to buy one vehicle for more than $50,000 and another for nearly $28,000. White said the Department of Human Services should take the vehicles because they were bought with public money.

    The audit said the Mississippi Center for Community Education spent $1.3 million to a group called Victory Sports Foundation to conduct three 12-week fitness boot camps. White said some participants paid but were not screened for eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The audit said state legislators and other elected officials took the fitness classes for free. White said Monday that the nonprofit group is responsible for the questioned spending, not the participants.

    ____

    Associated Press sports writer Arne Stapleton contributed to this report from Aurora, Colorado.

  • Mississippi Gave $2M In Welfare Money To Wrestler’s Group

    Mississippi Gave $2M In Welfare Money To Wrestler’s Group

    The state of Mississippi gave more than $2.1 million in federal welfare money to a ministry run by former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase Sr., who was known in the ring as “The Million Dollar Man.”

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — DiBiase is the father of a man recently indicted on charges of embezzling federal welfare money from the state. Ted DiBiase Sr. himself hasn’t been indicted.

    The Clarion Ledger reported that DiBiase’s Heart of David Ministries had a contract with the Mississippi Department of Human Services for a subgrant of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds.

    As a wrestler, Ted DiBiase Sr. wore a golden championship belt and suit adorned with dollar signs. He later turned to preaching and formed a nonprofit in Mississippi called Heart of David Ministries. His son, Brett DiBiase, whose own wrestling career was derailed by injury, was one of six people indicted last week on charges of embezzling more than $4 million in federal welfare funds.

    Brett DiBiase was hired in February 2017 by the Department of Human Services at a $79,000 salary, according to state Personnel Board records. Then-director John Davis promoted him on Aug. 1 of that year to deputy director of transformational change, with his salary rising to $95,000. However, DiBiase was gone six weeks later, and indictments allege Davis and department employee Latimer Smith faked invoices to channel $48,000 so DiBiase could attend drug treatment in Malibu, California.

    The department has also confirmed that the Mississippi Community Education Center paid Brett DiBiase’s brother, Ted DiBiase Jr., to provide training to human services employees. Social media accounts indicate the training took place in late 2018 and early 2019. The leaders of the Mississippi Community Education Center — Nancy New and Zach New, were charged with stealing more than $4 million in welfare funds that Davis directed to the nonprofit center, which was supposed to help indigent people find work, childcare and education.

    Heart of David Ministries saw its revenues double in the year Brett DiBiase was hired by the state, tax exemption filings show. The nonprofit described its mission as “religious education and training” in those filings. It reported spending 2017 grant money on “general church speaking engagements, religious conferences, school assemblies, and wrestling events.”

    It’s unclear exactly how Heart of David spent all $2,126,739 it received from May 2017 through earlier this budget year. It pledged in one 2018 contract to “establish a network of partnerships, services and resources throughout Mississippi communities for faith-based and self activities.”

    Federal guidelines call for welfare money block grants to further one of four specific purposes: encouraging healthy families, promoting job preparation and marriage, reducing out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and helping needy families.

    Department of Human Services spokesman Danny Blanton said Davis decided to hire Brett DiBiase and distribute money to Heart of David. Davis did not hold open competitive proposals for the department’s welfare subgrants, with Blanton saying he often would “unilaterally” distribute the money.

    After Davis resigned and Gov. Phil Bryant named FBI agent Christopher Freeze to temporarily run the department, the department implemented a different process. Heart of David is no longer receiving grant money, Blanton said.

    A woman who answered the door at the home of Ted DiBiase Sr. in Clinton called the Clarion Ledger’s past reporting “fictitious.” She declined to comment. Attempts to reach directors and others connected to Heart of David Ministries were unsuccessful.

    DiBiase has said he became a Christian minister after struggling with alcohol and drugs and cheating on his wife while on the road for wrestling events.

    “I was traveling the world in Lear jets and limousines. I had it all, but I had succumbed to those things on the road that take us away — the drugs the booze and the women,” DiBiase told former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a 2017 interview. “I had put the most important things in my life at risk to stroke my ego.”

    Heart of David’s government grants jumped to $271,000 in 2017, the year Brett DiBiase was hired at the Department of Human Services. DiBiase Sr. was paid $84,517 as president of the organization.

    As Heart of David received its first infusion of cash in 2017, filmmakers were completing “The Price of Fame” — a movie about Ted DiBiase Sr.’s struggles and religious awakening.

    A trailer for the film said it was made in association with Heart of David Ministries, but the producer and manager behind the film said the nonprofit was not involved. Blanton said the agency has not found signs state funds were used for the movie.

    By ERIC W. BOLIN
    Associated Press