She said its unfair that State Auditor Shad White, who initially investigated the scheme, and current Mississippi Department of Human Services Director Bob Anderson are free to make comments about Davis leadership while Davis is bound by a gag order and unable to respond. After DHS employees reported their findings to the Governor, the State Auditor was notified and the investigation was launched. Photo gallery: Equestrian program at Mississippi College, Nurse recounts horrors inside a Yazoo City nursing home, Coverage of Mississippis sprawling welfare scandal, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. READ MORE: Coverage of Mississippis sprawling welfare scandal. Wooten also said that its impossible to separate the discussion of Davis criminal culpability, as it relates to the narrow criminal charges against him, from the overall alleged scheme that occurred under his watch. a proud member of the "Thats to create the transparency. The two nonprofits ran an anti-poverty program called Families First for Mississippi, through which most of the money that was allegedly stolen, $4.15 million, or potentially misspent, $94 million, flowed. Davis and Smith created invoices to pay DiBiase TANF money for teaching classes about drug abuse, but DiBiase was in a luxury rehabilitation facility for his own drug use in California at the time and did not perform the services, White said. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Chinese electric vehicle brands expand to global, Met Gala: Rihanna, Jared Leto as Choupette, Kim K., Crisler still running for sheriff despite indictment, Met Gala 2023 live updates: Fashion highlights from, Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84, MS Insight for April 30, 2023: Steffey and Thompson, Poll: Mississippians strongly favor Presleys ideas, Poll: Presley slips, Gov. Connecting the dots: the MDHS embezzlement scandal The cast of characters, villains and heroes, in the Mississippi Department of Human Resources (MDHS) case seems to grow by the hour. "MDHS self-reported the information that initiated this investigation to former Gov. Bryant denied introducing Favre or Vanlandingham to the nonprofit director, Nancy New. The centers director had made a call to her warning her that we were there. Everything was going well. Shortly after last year's arrests in the largest reported public embezzlement scheme in state history, a whistleblower disclosed several previously unreported fraud allegations to the welfare department regarding one of its federal grant recipients. But when the State Auditors Office later asked state agency officials at two separate meetings in 2020 if they knew of any other potential fraud, they did not relay the report, the audit released Tuesday said. Whites statement said John Davis, former head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, had been arrested and charged in connection with a multi-million-dollar embezzlement scheme.. They then converted funds to their personal use and concealed the conversion through various fund transfers, fraudulent documents, at least one forged signature and deceptive accounting measures, investigators said. MDHS Embezzlement Part 1: Charges and evidence Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a three part series NEMISS.NEWS will publish regarding the matter the state auditor has called the biggest embezzlement of public funds in Mississippi history. Several people were arrested and charged on Feb. 5, 2020. He added that, Anything they gave to the campaign will be there waiting to return to the taxpayers and help the people it was intended for. All rights reserved. Former MDHS employee arrested for embezzlement - WJTV An eight-month investigation revealed that the accused conspired to illegally obtain millions in public funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program administered by DHS, White said. Together, the nonprofits paid more than $3 million to retired WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. for little more than inspirational speaking and promotion and paid a six-figure salary to retired football player Marcus Dupree, plus covered the $9,500-a-month mortgage on his horse ranch. Latimer Smith is a former employee of DHS. All rights reserved. Davis is accused of creating fake invoices for DiBiase and for "creating a fraud scheme to take TANF funds to pay for personal investments in medical device companies.". To learn more about our cartoon syndication services. The funds mostly came from a federal welfare grant program administered by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and both the head of the nonprofit and the former head of the MDHS have been charged with and pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and fraud for their roles in the scheme. Mississippi Today retrieved a 2017 email from Family Resource Center director Christi Webb, in which she described to Davis allegations of blatant deception at one of their partners, the local community action agency in Greenville, Warren-Washington-Issaqueena-Sharkey Community Action Agency or WWISCAA. Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. John Davis, then executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, at a hearing in Jackson, Miss., in 2016. retired in 2019 from the Department of Human Services. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. He resigned in July 2019, at about the same time the auditor's office began its investigation. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. The first announcement of the arrests was apparently made on the website of the (Brookhaven, MS) Daily Leader at 4:51 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5. The auditor's office said that the illicit money flowed through the Mississippi Community Education Center, a non-profit run by Nancy New and her son Zach New. Please reload the page and try again. Auditor:State agencies must improve when it comes to cybersecurity. Executive Director John Davis was two-and-half-years into his time as head of the agency when they decided to add an Office of Inspector General within DHS. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's embezzlement allegations targeting the flour scheme in Punjab have upset the interim government, as it termed the former . Start a recurring donation of any amount to further this work and help hold public officials and those in power accountable. and I told him I was fine with it, you know that I was okay. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have . White was appointed State Auditor by then-Governor Phil Bryant in 2018, when State Auditor Stacy Pickering resigned. The defendants used a variety of business entities and schemes to defraud the taxpayers, investigators said. What is the extent of the relationship between Tate Reeves and the News, mother and son? Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. The scheme came [] Five plead not guilty in MDHS embezzlement scheme - Vicksburg Daily News All rights reserved. New is the executive director of Oxford University School. Special agents from the office of State Auditor Shad White have arrested John Davis, who retired after 28 years with DHS on July 31 . According to the auditor's office, Davis and another DHS employee made fake invoices to pay Brett DiBiase a former pro wrestler who later became a DHS employee with money intended to helppoor families. We confirmed that it was John Davis who was making those approvals on the money. Davis attorney argues that when White and Anderson have discussed the case with the media, they have focused solely on Davis actions and not the several other employees who approved various purchases or the agency policies that he argues sanctioned Davis conduct. Bluff City Life. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history, upcoming Shad White:Transparency: Is Mississippi spending too much or not enough money on childrens programs? Davis may face trial in September. Anna has received national recognition for her work, including the 2021 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the 2021 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, the 2021 John Jay/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award, the 2020 Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award and the February 2020 Sidney Award for reporting on Mississippis debtors prisons. MDHS Embezzlement Part 1: Charges and evidence Their own outcome reports that they sent the state each month, which were meant to show how many people they served, contained nonsensical figures, Mississippi Today first reported. Since then, the subgrantee process has changed and the state plan for TANF reflects those changes. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. Feds: State auditor kept them in the dark on Mississippi welfare embezzlement bust. READ OUR FULL MISSISSIPPI WELFARE COVERAGE, Audit: 5.5% of Mississippis unemployment payouts in 2020 were improper, Jill Biden visits Jackson State vaccination site, encourages Mississippians to get your shot, $9,500-a-month mortgage on his horse ranch, Anna Wolfe answers reader questions about the Mississippi welfare scandal, Welfare case judge shoots down Brett Favres attempts to dismiss charges, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Johnson said, "she said well I did speak with Mr. Davis and he asked for you to be terminated. John Davis, several others face charges, arrested by state auditor's office. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. MDHS officials say former director John Davis created an environment of Davis also allegedly conspired to use welfare money, which his agency had granted to a nonprofit, to pay for DiBiases four-month long stint in a luxury rehab facility in California. Rumor was that some MDHS employees brought the matter to Bryants attention in June, and that Governor Bryant pointed White to the problem. Blanton also said that since the department was still under contract with the nonprofits in the last months of 2019, the beginning of fiscal year 2020, it could not simply cut off their funding while auditors were investigating allegations. White launched the initial investigation into how Davis administered welfare. We confirmed that it was John Davis who was making those approvals on the money. 2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of WAPT-TV. Nancy New and her son, Zach New, stand accused of using the News nonprofit, MCEC, to pay for DiBiases drug treatment using TANF funds, White said. Show your support>>. The welfare agency possessed no records showing the outcomes of those programs, an agency spokesperson said. For example, the people in charge of spending welfare dollars paid $5 million to help University of Southern Mississippi build a new volleyball stadium, paid retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre $1.1 million for a promotional gig, bought a horse ranch for former high school running back Marcus Dupree, paid over $3 million to Brett DiBiases brother Ted DiBiase Jr., also a retired WWE wrestler, to conduct professional development, hired officials friends and family members and paid them six-figure salaries, and paid rents on properties they owned that sat empty. Among other things, it is charged that state money was diverted to pay for drug rehabilitation treatment for former wrestler DiBiase at an exclusive drug rehab clinic in Malibu, California. MDHS sits down to discuss the embezzlement case for the first time since the news broke a week ago. 0:00. Check out these great suggestions. Anderson recently told a reporter that his agency had reinstated the practice of sending letters to subgrantees who are suspected of misusing grant funds, which he said Davis administration had stopped. He attended a professional development conference led by Davis outside the department and he says the encounter left him confused and embarrassed. That report ultimately led to todays arrests, it said. Mississippi Community Education Center has also failed to turn over documents the agency needs to complete its forensic audit or conduct a full grant closeout the departments process for ensuring the nonprofit complied with grant requirements and spent the funds properly. Mr. White said the arrests stemmed from an eight-month investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which the state welfare agency administers. At Davis direction, MCEC used TANF money received from DHS to pay for DiBiases opioid treatment at the Rise in Malibu facility, White said. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds are part of a lawsuit filed against 38 people or companies that seeks to recover millions in federal funds. DiBiase is the son of well-known former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase. Paul Lacoste did not return calls Tuesday morning. There really hadnt been the internal auditing capability, the program integrity ability before that we had at that point that was created, explained DHS Chief Communications Officer Danny Blanton. Former Art Institute worker pleads guilty to $2M embezzlement scheme - MSN Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. of interest to residents of Northeast Mississippi. Brett DiBiase pleads guilty in human services embezzlement scheme In a statement, the Department of Human Services said it had self-reported the information that initiated this investigation to the governors office in June 2019. Any amount helps us keep producing quality journalism for Mississippi. The state auditors office said it would not be making any additional comments. As a nonprofit, your support is what powers our work. We will continue to follow this case and update you as new developments are made available. We work to find them. We are placing high priority on employee morale and engagement. If youre thinking of altering your workout routine, youre probably looking for new exercises and equipment to help you reach your fitness goals. John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, was arrested within the largest alleged public embezzlement case in state history. Since then, the subgrantee process has changed and the state plan for TANF reflects those changes. John Davis, who last year retired from the Department of Human Services, used some of the funds to pay for Brett DiBiase, a former professional wrestler, to go to drug rehab, the state auditor said. We do appreciate the partnership with Victory Sports and Pauls work. MDHS officials say former director John Davis created an environment of fear and intimidation, John Davis is indicted in an embezzlement scheme involving millions of dollars, Beloved Mississippi school bus driver killed during crash with 18-wheeler, Eleven players with Mississippi ties selected in 2023 NFL Draft, Truck possibly connected to Hinds County jail escape found in Newton County, Paraplegic fisherman speaks to Beulah Baptist Church, Belhaven football puts a smile on the face of little girl, City of Byram awarded thousands of state dollars for infrastructure projects, 58-year-old man shoots brother after argument over a dog in Hazlehurst, Request a First Alert Weather School Visit, Advertising Non-Discrimination Certification. NEMiss.NEWS was founded in 2014 and is a division of Shivimage, LLC, and began publishing in early 2015. It is also charged that DiBiase was paid state money for drug education work that he did not perform. Jones said he had no knowledge of any alleged fraud and that the nonprofit had cooperated with audits from the department as well as the auditors office. Davis resigned as head of MDHS in July, 2019. Johnson says he had heard rumblings from other employees but didn't pay much attention. "MDHS self-reported the information that initiated this investigation to former Gov. Mississippi welfare embezzlement scandal: What we know so far. Federal authorities and internal investigators at Mississippi Department of Human Services eventually began investigating the subgrantee, 100 Black Men of Jackson, an agency spokesperson told Mississippi Today on Tuesday. Former MDHS Director John Davis pleads guilty to defraud conspiracy With your help, we've gotten a lot done but we're not finished yet! The total amount of money lost to the schemes has not yet been determined but the loss already exceeds any embezzlement scheme in the records of the auditors office, White said. Between 2016 and 2018, the nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center doled out $5 millionallegedly at Favres requestto the University of Southern Mississippi, where Favre attended and where his daughter also attended and played volleyball, to pay for a new volleyball court, according to Mississippi Today; the nonprofit also paid him $1.1 million to promote a program called Families First. You and Nancy stuck your neck out for me with jake and Prevacus I know and thats going to turn out very good I believe.. John Davis was indicted along with several others in the largest embezzlement and fraud scheme in Mississippi history. We are verifying those as well to determine the validity of such. {"requests":{"event":"https:\/\/mississippitoday.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/newspack-popups\/includes\/..\/api\/campaigns\/index.php"},"triggers":{"trackPageview":{"on":"visible","request":"event","visibilitySpec":{"selector":"#c237","visiblePercentageMin":50,"totalTimeMin":250,"continuousTimeMin":100},"extraUrlParams":{"popup_id":"id_989879","cid":"CLIENT_ID(newspack-cid)"}}}} She asked if media coverage of an auditors investigation is initiated when a reporter asks the office a question or after the office publicizes the case. You have to credit Mississippi Today. Kelly Clarkson's Home Collection Is Up to 74% Off During Way Day Deals, The Best Wayfair Way Day Deals 2023 Starting at $30. The community action agency did not return calls to Mississippi Today Tuesday morning. The welfare agencys documentation, or lack thereof, shows Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi did not, as New stated, evaluate the services and outcomes of its grantees. All six people charged are Mississippi residents, including the former W.W.E. Hall of Fame Gold Jacket Dinner on August 4, 2016 at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in Canton, Ohio. Brett Favre Scandal: Alleged $8 Million Welfare Scam, Explained - Forbes So,there was nothing illegal about those transfers, only how it was spent after that. Nancy New and her son are also accused of transferring millions in TANF funds to their private businesses, White said. Toy Truck Drive. The Auditors office has made it clear that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are still possible. HINDS COUNTY, Miss. Ex-Mississippi official accused of embezzling money meant for poor This inability to validity MCECs records is further complicated by the fact that the principals of MCEC are currently under indictment and essentially unavailable to MDHS to review any further documentation or answer questions.. The funds in question were part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is administered by DHS. DHS went on camera with WLBT to answer questions about what happened and what theyve changed to prevent the problem from happening again. An eight-month investigation revealed that the accused conspired to illegally obtain millions in public funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program administered by DHS, White said. You may opt-out by. Davis attorney recently asked the court to extend an existing suppression order in his case to include White and Anderson, citing two recent articles Mississippi Today published about the case. The former director of Mississippis welfare agency was arrested on charges that he took part in a scheme to embezzle millions of dollars for personal use and to pay for a former professional wrestler to go to a luxury drug rehabilitation center, the state auditor announced on Wednesday. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. Auditor: DHS scandal continued after investigation began We hear from a former employee who is just one of many who were fired by Davis. Special agents from the office of State Auditor Shad White have arrested John Davis, who retired after 28 years with DHS on July 31, 2019. Favre declined to be interviewed by Mississippi Today and could not be reached for comment by Forbes, and in 2020 tweeted that he love[s] Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most., Hey brother [his wife] Deanna and [I] still owe 1.1 million on Vball, Favre purportedly texted John Davis, the former head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, according to Mississippi Today. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. John Davis has been indicted in the largest embezzlement and fraud scheme in state history. Anna Wolfe, a native of Tacoma, Wa., is an investigative reporter writing about poverty and economic justice. Anna has received national recognition for her work, including the 2021 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the 2021 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, the 2021 John Jay/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award, the 2020 Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award and the February 2020 Sidney Award for reporting on Mississippis debtors prisons. MDHS paid Mississippi Community Education Center $19,404 two days before the state auditor's office arrested the News and former Human Services Executive Director John Davis as part of the. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. You deserve answers. Davis has pleaded not guilty. Phil Bryant and other officials in his home state in order to influence roughly $8 million in welfare payments for himself, pharmaceutical company Prevacus, and a volleyball court for the University of Southern Mississippi, according to an expose published last week Mississippi Todaythough Favre has not been charged criminally or accused of a crime. You do not have the right to treat taxpayer money as your own or to lie to the taxpayers about what youre doing with that money. The cast of characters, villains and heroes, in the Mississippi Department of Human Resources (MDHS) case seems to grow by the hour. This is a developing story. Great Jones Cookware Review: Is It Worth Buying? It's unclear when they will be unsealed. You have to credit Mississippi Today. Former DHS director, wrestler arrested in 'largest public embezzlement Phil Bryant's office in June 2019. New described issues with their partner, Victory Sports Foundation owned by former football player Paul Lacoste, who was paid to conduct a boot camp-style fitness program, often attended by professionals and lawmakers. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates on the Mississippi welfare scandal. The total amount of money lost to these schemes has not yet been determined, but the loss already exceeds any embezzlement . On Tuesday, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Wooten spoke strongly in defense of a gag order in the case of former welfare director John Davis, saying that media coverage of the scandal threatens the courts ability to assemble an impartial jury. "I now have the opportunity to focus on my family at home and pursue a position outside of state government," Davis wrote in a statement announcing his resignation. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Former director of MDHS and others arrested in largest public The former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and several others have been arrested in what the state auditor said is the largest public embezzlement case in state history. Mugshots: Ex-welfare chief, wrestler, others charged in Mississippi fraud case.