Maine resident sentenced to 3 years in prison for fraud and tax offenses stemming from $1.8 million embezzlement scheme; April 14, 2023. The community action agency did not return calls to Mississippi Today Tuesday morning. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. Two days after the State Auditor arrested the News, Davis, DiBiase, et al, Governor Reeves made a statement in which he said, I can tell you right now, anything they (the News) gave to the campaign is going to be moved to a separate untouched bank account., Reeves said he did not know how much of the money his campaign received was stolen from taxpayers. When it comes to finding the misspending detailed in the indictments, this was the atmosphere at the agency at the time. 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. Please refresh the page and/or try again. State Auditor Shad White said in a statement released Sunday, Tomorrow morning I am heading to FBI offices where my agents and I will brief them on the DHS scheme and make all the evidence we have gathered available. Theyve also started bringing in subgrantees for training on whats expected and how they can best meet federal guidelines. She said that you were disrespectful.". 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. John Davis, several others face charges, arrested by state auditor's office. Representatives for the nonprofits have not returned several calls and emails over the last year. A little less than four months ago October 2019 it was reported that Nancy Drew and her son Zach had donated $5,000 to the Reeves campaign on behalf of their privately owned New Summit School in Jackson. State auditors said Ms. New and Mr. New concealed the embezzlement using fund transfers, fraudulent documents, at least one forged signature and deceptive accounting measures. He also denied knowing Favre and Vanlandingham were receiving public funding for Prevacus, though text messages suggest he knew. Several people were arrested and charged on Feb. 5, 2020. Tate Reeves appointed the agencys current director, Bob Anderson, in March of 2020. Amazon Has Uncanny Dupes of CB2's Popular Dining Chair for Hundreds Less. Help keep the momentum going by rejoining our member community today. A judge in the ongoing welfare embezzlement case is balancing the publics interest in learning how officials misspent tens of millions of federal dollars with a defendants right to a fair trial. All six people charged are Mississippi residents, including the former W.W.E. 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.. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services. The indictments were filed under seal in Hinds County, Reeves said. 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. 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. Auditor:State agencies must improve when it comes to cybersecurity. Looking for something special to get your mom for Mothers Day? We want to make our employees comfortable and proud to be a part of DHS.. 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. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. Brett DiBiase pleads guilty in human services embezzlement scheme Keisha Rowe Mississippi Clarion Ledger 0:00 2:16 Brett DiBiase, a former deputy administrator for the Mississippi Department. Former MDHS Director John Davis pleads guilty to defraud conspiracy All rights reserved. Five plead not guilty in MDHS embezzlement scheme Start a recurring donation of any amount to further this work and help hold public officials and those in power accountable. The defendants used a variety of business entities and schemes to defraud the taxpayers, investigators said. It ends today.. The purported messages also show a request from Favre asking members of the group to help to pay a $1 million debt Favre owed to the University of Southern Mississippi for the volleyball court he promised the school. What is the extent of the relationship between Tate Reeves and the News, mother and son? "Thats to create the transparency. The former head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services has been arrested as part of a multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme that among other things paid for a former professional wrestler to go to a luxury drug rehabilitation center in California, the state auditor announced Wednesday. The Auditors office has made it clear that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are still possible. One of the nonprofits, Mississippi Community Education Center, shuttered after law enforcement arrested its owner Nancy New, while officials at the other nonprofit, Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, have not faced criminal charges. Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. 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. Latimer Smith is a former employee of DHS. and I told him I was fine with it, you know that I was okay. When I checked to see who the caller was Mr. Davis was passing by and he stopped and he asked me to put my phone away and which I complied.". You may opt-out by. 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. The audit released Tuesday also criticized the welfare department for continuing to fund two now-embattled nonprofits well into fiscal year 2020, as Mississippi Today first reported last July, even after learning that the auditor suspected they were responsible for the misspending of tens of millions of welfare dollars, the audit said. Jones said as a result of the lost funding, 100 Black Men had to cancel some upcoming afterschool and ACT prep programs, but that they would continue other services, such as administering vaccines and a student field trip to Alabama. Here is what we know about them: John Davis was appointed director of DHS by former Gov. 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Former Green Bay Packers Quarterback and Hall of Famer Brett Favre has been accused of using his "special access" to former Mississippi Gov. I just wanted you to be aware of this information in case this comes up.. With your help, we've gotten a lot done but we're not finished yet! So,there was nothing illegal about those transfers, only how it was spent after that. I said well what is the reason? 0:27. Special agents from the office of State Auditor Shad White have arrested John Davis, the former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and five others in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme. People may have identified or suspected that something was amiss but, because of the atmosphere of fear and intimidation, they were afraid to say anything for fear of losing their jobs, noted Blanton. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. They dont need it at the moment. 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. Before joining the staff at Mississippi Today in September of 2018, Anna worked for three years at Clarion Ledger, Mississippis statewide daily newspaper. Theres a lot of flexibility given for how states use TANF funds. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). So,there was nothing illegal about those transfers, only how it was spent after that. Johnson said, "I was a special investigator, special investigator, a DHS investigator.". All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. By the time these meetings occurred in April, July and August of 2020 former welfare department director John Davis, who was indicted last year for his critical role in the alleged scheme, had been retired for about a year. Ex-Mississippi official accused of embezzling money meant for poor As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Agents also arrested DHS employee Latimer Smith; Dr. Nancy New, owner and director of the Mississippi Community Education Center and New Learning; Zach New, assistant executive director of MCEC; Anne McGrew, accountant for MCEC; and former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase in connection with the multimillion-dollar 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. 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. Wooten pushed back on this argument, repeatedly asking the attorney representing White and Anderson from the state attorney generals office how the gag order prevents White from doing his job, namely auditing and investigating government spending. The total amount of money lost to these schemes has not yet been determined, but the loss already exceeds any embezzlement . The suspects were each released on their own recognizance Wednesday night, officials with the Hinds County Sheriff's Office said. We certainly do not want to falsely accuse. Since then, the subgrantee process has changed and the state plan for TANF reflects those changes. 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. Please reload the page and try again. Thats to be open with how funds are distributed and who theyre going to.. This is a developing story. Davis and Smith created documents and arranged payment knowing DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform, White said. Phil Bryant in January 2016. The former director of Mississippi's 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. 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. Rumor was that some MDHS employees brought the matter to Bryants attention in June, and that Governor Bryant pointed White to the problem. Paul Lacoste did not return calls Tuesday morning. 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. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. JACKSON, Miss. White was appointed State Auditor by then-Governor Phil Bryant in 2018, when State Auditor Stacy Pickering resigned. But the criminal charges only scratch the surface: Under Davis leadership, independent auditors have found $70 million in improper purchases with federal public assistance dollars. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history - WLOX "He asked me, he said do you know who I am? "MDHS would like to thank the Office of the State Auditor investigators for their diligent work in seeing this investigation through," the post said. Copyright 2020 WLBT. Any chance you and Nancy can help with that? 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. "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. 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. following organizations: Whoops! Boston police officers acquitted in overtime fraud case The complexity of the cover-up was as such that it wouldve been highly unlikely that anybody wouldve uncovered it, except by being able to find it from within, Blanton said. 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. Mississippi welfare embezzlement scandal: What we know so far. Theyve also started bringing in subgrantees for training on whats expected and how they can best meet federal guidelines. 2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of WAPT-TV. Prevacus, a pharmaceutical company that was working on a concussion treatment and which Favre was a top investor in, also allegedly received $2.15 million in allegedly stolen funds from the scheme, according to Mississippi Today. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. JACKSON, Miss. MDHS hires new law firm to recover misspent TANF money - WAPT Davis resigned as head of MDHS in July, 2019. 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. White confirmed in an interview earlier today that Governor Bryant, himself a former state auditor, was indeed the whistleblower who brought the case to the state auditors office in June. We do not sell or share your information with anyone. Former Mississippi Welfare Director Charged With Embezzling Millions Please reload the page and try again. A DHS spokesperson rejected the auditors narrative that the department did not disclose fraud reports to the auditors office. of interest to residents of Northeast Mississippi. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. Much more remains to be revealed, including questions such as: Check out these great suggestions. Jackson faces 30 years and over $50,000 in fines if convicted on all counts. Webb attached a letter in her email to Davis, showing her organization had terminated their contract with WWISCAA. Webb said she and her organizations financial officer visited WWISCAAs Greenville Center and found just one vehicle in the parking lot. You have to credit Mississippi Today. Brett DiBiase was a former professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment,who later worked at DHS as the deputy director of transformational change, according to his LinkedIn page. by Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today June 22, 2021, This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. Davis and Smith are accused of fraudulently manufacturing documents to benefit DiBiase using TANF money, White said. All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. The announcement came from the office of Mississippi State Auditor, Shadrach Tucker White. All of this is being put in place to make sure the sins of the past never recur in the future, added Blanton. Mr. DiBiase, who comes from a professional wrestling family, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. She received the National Press Foundations 2020 Poverty and Inequality Award. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. What is the relationship between John Davis and former wrestler and drug abuser Brett DiBiase? The agency has still not adopted a comprehensive approach to responding to and reporting suspected fraud; additionally, the agency did not take all the needed steps to verify suspected fraud was investigated timely and misappropriated monies were returned, the audit stated.

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