If that doesnt happen, that money will go to a deserving charity.. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. 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. John Davis has been indicted in the largest embezzlement and fraud scheme in state history. The auditors office contradicted this notion, stating that the department has an obligation to ensure grant monies are expended properly. The News also directed millions in public money to their private businesses, used the money personally, and concealed the transactions, according to the auditors. He also denied knowing Favre and Vanlandingham were receiving public funding for Prevacus, though text messages suggest he knew. What it looks like is that one side of the story is being put out there, Wooten said. Thats to be open with how funds are distributed and who theyre going to.. Nancy New and her son are also accused of transferring millions in TANF funds to their private businesses, White said. As we reported, the Mississippi Community Education Center or MCEC was a sub grantee receiving TANF dollars that first flowed through DHS. The documentation submitted by the News claimed this was to pay DiBiase for conducting training classes that never, in fact, took place, investigators said. Nancy New and her son Zach New are scheduled to stand trial on welfare embezzlement charges in October. Instances of fraud and abuse in Mississippis welfare system were widespread, including among other organizations who received subgrants from the Families First nonprofits. Johnson said, "she said well I did speak with Mr. Davis and he asked for you to be terminated. 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. Michael Maurello, 56, worked as a payroll manager at the . 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. HINDS COUNTY, Miss. Reginald Johnson had been with MDHS since 2007. Mr. DiBiase, who comes from a professional wrestling family, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. MDHS released a statement about the arrests. 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. Davis and Smith created documents and arranged payment knowing DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform, White said. Toy Truck Drive. All of this is being put in place to make sure the sins of the past never recur in the future, added Blanton. 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. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. Copyright 2020 WLBT. Check out these great suggestions. You have to credit Mississippi Today. I'm the Executive Director. 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. 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. 0:00. DiBiase was allegedly paid to teach classes about drug use and instead used the money to pay for his own drug rehabilitation in Malibu, California. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. 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. All of this is being put in place to make sure the sins of the past never recur in the future, added Blanton. She said that you were disrespectful.". (T)heir immediate supervisor called a meeting with the staff in Myersville and told them that they had to document names of clients and activities performed in that center. According to the auditor's office, there are at least six people involved, though the investigation is ongoing. (WLBT) - 3 On Your Side is learning more about how the former head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services ran the agency and treated employees. Bryant denied introducing Favre or Vanlandingham to the nonprofit director, Nancy New. Feazell later turned herself into MDHS and Hinds County officials on Monday, February 28, 2022. READ MORE: Coverage of Mississippis sprawling welfare scandal. 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. 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. 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. NEMiss.NEWS was founded in 2014 and is a division of Shivimage, LLC, and began publishing in early 2015. State agencies must improve when it comes to cybersecurity, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The documentation submitted by the News claimed this was to pay DiBiase for conducting training classes that never, in fact, took place, investigators said. This spring, Le Creuset has introduced an exciting new shade thats already selling fast: shallot, a soft lavender with pink and slight gray undertones. 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. 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. 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. Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. Much more remains to be revealed, including questions such as: Maine resident sentenced to 3 years in prison for fraud and tax offenses stemming from $1.8 million embezzlement scheme; April 14, 2023. So,there was nothing illegal about those transfers, only how it was spent after that. As a nonprofit, your support is what powers our work. Anderson has ushered in new procurement practices and financial controls to increase accountability among the departments welfare grantees. He had the latitude to unilaterally disperse funds as he felt necessary or wanted to, Blanton confirmed. Phil Bryant in January 2016. 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. The indictments, which were returned by a Hinds County grand jury, include a range of violations involving fraud and embezzlement, White said in a news release. MDHS hires new law firm to recover misspent TANF money - WAPT The agency expects to soon file civil charges against Davis and others who received the funds. The suspects were each released on their own recognizance Wednesday night, officials with the Hinds County Sheriff's Office said. Others doing this kind of thing are on notice: this will not be tolerated now, White said in a statement. White has called for a full forensic audit of MDHS. The money was stolen from TANF funds, federal money entrusted to the state for needs of the poor. She explained that they were absolutely doing nothing in either center.. Any chance you and Nancy can help with that? All rights reserved. He then earned a Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University. It ends today.. Thats to be open with how funds are distributed and who theyre going to.. Davis is indicted along with Nancy New, her son Zach New, Anne McGrew, Latimer Smith and Brett DiBiase. 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. Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. ( WJTV) - A former employee for the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) was arrested for embezzlement after an investigation by the Investigations Division of . Former MDHS Director, John Davis, is from Brookhaven, Lincoln County, and worked for MDHS in that county before his rise to the top of the state MDHS organization. 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. Gov. following organizations: Whoops! All six people charged are Mississippi residents, including the former W.W.E. A DHS spokesperson rejected the auditors narrative that the department did not disclose fraud reports to the auditors office. And they did start an internal audit at the beginning of 2019. We hear from a former employee who is just one of many who were fired by Davis. Tate Reeves appointed the agencys current director, Bob Anderson, in March of 2020. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Brookhaven is in Lincoln County in the southwest quadrant of Mississippi. 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. She explained that she quit due to fear of losing her license and the requirements of the supervisor. and I told him I was fine with it, you know that I was okay. We confirmed that it was John Davis who was making those approvals on the money. A top scholar, he won a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a Master of Science degree from Rhodes College in England. The Auditors office has made it clear that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are still possible. Also arrested were Brett DiBiase, a former professional wrestler; Nancy New, owner and director of the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC) and New Learning, Inc.; News son, Zach New, assistant director of MCEC; Anne McGrew, identified as an accountant for MCEC, and Gregory Latimer Smith, a former employee of MDHS. It's unclear when they will be unsealed. Read more. The cast of characters, villains and heroes, in the Mississippi Department of Human Resources (MDHS) case seems to grow by the hour. At Davis direction, MCEC used TANF money received from DHS to pay for DiBiases opioid treatment at the Rise in Malibu facility, White said. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history - WLOX The centers director had made a call to her warning her that we were there. Former DHS director, wrestler arrested in 'largest public embezzlement case in state history'. Special agents from the office of State Auditor Shad White have arrested John Davis, who retired after 28 years with DHS on July 31 . 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 . When it comes to finding the misspending detailed in the indictments, this was the atmosphere at the agency at the time. Hurst said, neither the FBI nor the United States Attorneys Office was contacted by the State Auditor or the Hinds County District Attorney about this investigation, although millions of federal dollars are alleged to have been stolen.. 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. Brett DiBiase pleads guilty in human services embezzlement scheme Paul Lacoste did not return calls Tuesday morning. 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. She also received first place in the regional Green Eyeshade Awards in 2021 for Public Service in Online Journalism and 2020 for Business Reporting, and the local Bill Minor Prize for Investigative Journalism in 2019 and 2018 for reporting on unfair medical billing practices and hunger in the Mississippi Delta. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. Davis and Smith created documents and arranged payment knowing DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform, White said. 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. A relative newcomer to Mississippi politics, Shadrach Shad Tucker White is 34 years old and was born in Sandersville in Jones County, MS. (WLBT) - It was one week ago that the news broke of whats been called the largest public embezzlement case in state history. 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. We have been told by officials with the Mississippi Department of Human Services that former Executive Director John Davis ran the department in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. What is the relationship between Davis and the News? The audit, on the other hand, said that when the auditors office pressed DHS agency officials about the fraud tip, some members of executive management still did not inform auditors of the fraud, or expressed to auditors that the fraud tip was minor and involved an incident of an employee using a business care for personal use, and of an employee sleeping on the job.. The welfare agency possessed no records showing the outcomes of those programs, an agency spokesperson said. JACKSON, Miss. But fast forward to that afternoon session and my cell phone began to vibrate. After DHS employees reported their findings to the Governor, the State Auditor was notified and the investigation was launched. 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. According to a Mississippi Today review of public records, the agency sent out 110 letters during roughly the last year under Anderson compared to four letters in fiscal year 2019 under Davis. 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State auditors said Mr. Davis, of Brookhaven, Miss., conspired with the administrators at a nonprofit, the Mississippi Community Education Center, and the organizations accountant to defraud taxpayers and create phony invoices. Check back for updates. New is the executive director of Oxford University School. ", Danny Blanton Chief Communications Officer with DHS did give us this statement. We do not sell or share your information with anyone. Before joining the staff at Mississippi Today in September of 2018, Anna worked for three years at Clarion Ledger, Mississippis statewide daily newspaper. This investigation demonstrates the strengthened controls we have put in place to identify, investigate, and prosecute fraud, waste, and abuse at any level, by any individual, MDHS Executive Director Robert G. Bob Anderson said. HINDS COUNTY, Miss. DHS went on camera with WLBT to answer questions about what happened and what theyve changed to prevent the problem from happening again. 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. DHS concealed alleged fraud after welfare scandal - Mississippi Today Start a recurring donation of any amount to further this work and help hold public officials and those in power accountable. A $50,000 surety bond covers Jackson's employment as the Farmington City Clerk. Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. 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. 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. Under the plea agreement, the State recommends that Davis be sentenced to 90 years with 32 years of that sentence to be served in prison, as well as be required to pay restitution in the amount of. We certainly do not want to falsely accuse. They said Mr. Davis, along with Ms. New and Mr. New, used some of the embezzled funds to invest in medical device companies. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. Something went wrong. He had the latitude to unilaterally disperse funds as he felt necessary or wanted to, Blanton confirmed. The scheme came [] Five plead not guilty in MDHS embezzlement scheme - Vicksburg Daily News 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. Rumor was that some MDHS employees brought the matter to Bryants attention in June, and that Governor Bryant pointed White to the problem. The funds in question were part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is administered by DHS. 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. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. 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. According to MDHS, investigators said Lashanda Feazell, while Director of Procurement at MDHS, used the agencys credit card to pay her personal cellular phone bills in the amount of $5,741.39 during the period of August 2018 through January 2021. Is there more to be revealed about the diversion of tax money to private schools? We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities. Farmington City Clerk Arrested for Embezzlement Mississippi Office of by Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today June 22, 2021, This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
