mdhs embezzlement scheme

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. Webb attached a letter in her email to Davis, showing her organization had terminated their contract with WWISCAA. 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. 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. 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. MDHS Embezzlement Part 1: Charges and evidence 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. Up to $70 million was misspent in the scheme, according to Mississippi Today. The documentation submitted by the News claimed this was to pay DiBiase for conducting training classes that never, in fact, took place, investigators said. Auditor Shad White said his office is still attempting to determine the total amount of money involved, but the "sprawling conspiracy" already exceeds any embezzlement scheme in recent years. John Davis, several others face charges, arrested by state auditor's office. 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. Former MDHS Director John Davis pleads guilty to defraud conspiracy 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. When it comes to finding the misspending detailed in the indictments, this was the atmosphere at the agency at the time. Several people were arrested and charged on Feb. 5, 2020. Shortly after last years 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. Instances of fraud and abuse in Mississippis welfare system were widespread, including among other organizations who received subgrants from the Families First nonprofits. . I just wanted you to be aware of this information in case this comes up.. Any amount helps us keep producing quality journalism for Mississippi. That report ultimately led to todays arrests, it said. Nancy New and her son are also accused of transferring millions in TANF funds to their private businesses, White 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. We believe that an informed Mississippi is a better Mississippi. Before they exited their car, a woman was unlocking the door and waving them in. 0:53. The matter was referred to the Hinds County District Attorney Office for criminal prosecution after terminating her employment. Uncovering the scheme goes back further than you may realize. We do appreciate the partnership with Victory Sports and Pauls work. There was a reception area, a 10 x 10 room with two tables and 6 chairs and another office. On a separate visit, she said, they found no employee present. Mississippi welfare embezzlement scandal: What we know so far. A relative newcomer to Mississippi politics, Shadrach Shad Tucker White is 34 years old and was born in Sandersville in Jones County, MS. The report also said Victory Sports charged a fee for participants in the boot camp to attend and it did not conduct any kind of eligibility to ensure it was serving those in need. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Johnson said, "I was a special investigator, special investigator, a DHS investigator.". (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. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. The Hinds County District Attorney secured an indictment on December 14, 2021. Start a recurring donation of any amount to further this work and help hold public officials and those in power accountable. Looking for something special to get your mom for Mothers Day? "We look forward to this moving through the justice system to a final disposition.". 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. The auditors office contradicted this notion, stating that the department has an obligation to ensure grant monies are expended properly. Amazon Has Uncanny Dupes of CB2's Popular Dining Chair for Hundreds Less. Feds: State auditor kept them in the dark on Mississippi welfare embezzlement bust. Phil Bryant in January 2016. MDHS Embezzlement Part 1: Charges and evidence DHS spokesperson Danny Blanton rejected the auditors narrative that the department concealed fraud reports from the auditors office. We work to provide free, accessible news for everyone to create a more informed Mississippi and hold public officials accountable. Mugshots: Ex-welfare chief, wrestler, others charged in Mississippi fraud case. 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. She received the National Press Foundations 2020 Poverty and Inequality Award. 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. 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. In 2020, officials said the loss exceeds any embezzlement scheme in the records of the Auditors office., You stuck your neck out for me: Brett Favre used fame and favors to pull welfare dollars (Mississippi Today), Phil Bryant had his sights on a payout as welfare funds flowed to Brett Favre (Mississippi Today), 8 revelations from Part 1 of The Backchannel investigation (Mississippi Today), This is a BETA experience. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. Nonprofits made most of these purchases, which obscured the spending from public view. By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with Mississippi Today. There was also no answer at the main office of the Mississippi Community Education Center in Jackson. We work to find them. Punjab refutes Shahid Khaqan's embezzlement allegations in flour scheme They said Mr. Davis, along with Ms. New and Mr. New, used some of the embezzled funds to invest in medical device companies. Uncovering the scheme goes back further than you may realize. Brookhaven is in Lincoln County in the southwest quadrant of Mississippi. We confirmed that it was John Davis who was making those approvals on the money. 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. Records are kept for all cases from the last 20 years.The suspects were each released on their own recognizance Wednesday night, officials with the Hinds County Sheriff's Office said. We want to make our employees comfortable and proud to be a part of DHS.. If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using. "MDHS self-reported the information that initiated this investigation to former Gov. 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 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. "MDHS would like to thank the Office of the State Auditor investigators for their diligent work in seeing this investigation through," the post said. All rights reserved. The total amount of money lost to these schemes has not yet been determined, but the loss already exceeds any embezzlement . 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. 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. Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. We believe that an informed Mississippi is a better Mississippi. Criminal Investigation Press Releases for April 2023 (WLBT) - It was one week ago that the news broke of whats been called the largest public embezzlement case in state history. The Auditors office has made it clear that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are still possible. We will continue to follow this case and update you as new developments are made available. 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. 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. 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. You have to credit Mississippi Today. MDHS released a statement about the arrests. Check back for updates. wrestler Brett DiBiase, 31, who state auditors said was paid with welfare funds for teaching classes about drug use. Former DHS director, wrestler arrested in 'largest public embezzlement case in state history'. Nancy New is a long-time political ally and financial supporter of Mississippis new Governor, Tate Reeves. 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. Davis and Smith are accused of fraudulently manufacturing documents to benefit DiBiase using TANF money, White said. ", Danny Blanton Chief Communications Officer with DHS did give us this statement. Nine of them have pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges . The cast of characters, villains and heroes, in the Mississippi Department of Human Resources (MDHS) case seems to grow by the hour. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history, upcoming Purported text messages obtained by Mississippi Today show that Favre and Prevacus founder Jake Vanlandingham offered the governor and nonprofit director shares of Prevacus and offered to buy the head of MDHS a Ford F-150 Raptor truck in return for their help. Auditor:State agencies must improve when it comes to cybersecurity. All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. Davis has pleaded not guilty. She also worked as an investigative reporter for the Center for Public Integrity and Jackson Free Press, the capital citys alternative newsweekly. 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. ( WJTV) - A former employee for the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) was arrested for embezzlement after an investigation by the Investigations Division of . MDHS hires new law firm to recover misspent TANF money - WAPT This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. A phone number for Ms. McGrew was busy. The announcement came from the office of Mississippi State Auditor, Shadrach Tucker White. Hurst said federal law enforcement was not aware of the MDHS investigation until they read about it in media reports. 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. It was not immediately clear Wednesday night if Mr. Davis or the other five charged had lawyers, and no one answered the phone at the homes of Mr. Davis, Ms. New, Mr. New and Mr. Smith. State auditors did not say what precipitated the investigation and did not give a specific dollar amount for the money that they say was embezzled, only that it was in the millions. The welfare agency possessed no records showing the outcomes of those programs, an agency spokesperson said. Davis resigned as head of MDHS in July, 2019. Maine resident sentenced to 3 years in prison for fraud and tax offenses stemming from $1.8 million embezzlement scheme; April 14, 2023. The State Auditor's office says Davis allowed 98 million dollars meant for the needy to flow into nonprofits where the money was spent to hire lobbyists, on contracts for family members, to purchase vehicles, even repaying a loan. Wooten said it appears as if the officials are attempting to try Davis case in the media. 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. The director, John Davis, who retired in 2019 from the Department of Human Services, was one of six people charged in what the state auditor, Shad White, said was the largest embezzlement scheme that the office had seen in at least 20 years. The agency expects to soon file civil charges against Davis and others who received the funds. 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. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history - WLOX 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. Davis and Smith created documents and arranged payment knowing DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform, White said. 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. 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. DHS concealed alleged fraud after welfare scandal - Mississippi Today 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. 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. He resigned in July 2019, at about the same time the auditor's office began its investigation. 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. 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. Check out these great suggestions. JACKSON, Miss. Phil Bryant's office in June 2019. When it comes to finding the misspending detailed in the indictments, this was the atmosphere at the agency at the time. If youre not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and include our website, You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. 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. All rights reserved. Former MDHS employee arrested for embezzlement - WJTV Phil Bryant's office in June 2019. DiBiase is the son of well-known former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase. Former Mississippi Welfare Director Charged With Embezzling Millions 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. The centers director had made a call to her warning her that we were there. Much more remains to be revealed, including questions such as: Theyve also started bringing in subgrantees for training on whats expected and how they can best meet federal guidelines. Ex-Mississippi DHS head arrested in embezzlement scheme, auditor says The Auditors office has made it clear that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are still possible. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates on the Mississippi welfare scandal. 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. MDHS sits down to discuss the embezzlement case for the first time since the news broke a week ago. Before joining the staff at Mississippi Today in September of 2018, Anna worked for three years at Clarion Ledger, Mississippis statewide daily newspaper. White was appointed State Auditor by then-Governor Phil Bryant in 2018, when State Auditor Stacy Pickering resigned. John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, was arrested within the largest alleged public embezzlement case in state history. 0:00. Gov. 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. And at that point we did, Blanton said. 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.. All TANF funds will go through the RFP process, Blanton said. 2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of WAPT-TV. Anna Wolfe, a native of Tacoma, Wa., is an investigative reporter writing about poverty and economic justice. 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. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Reginald Johnson had been with MDHS since 2007. "Thats to create the transparency. 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. The February 2020 internal report claimed that an employee of 100 Black Men falsified timesheets to pay people who were not working at the nonprofit and that they were using federal money to buy personal items for staff and their family, according to the audit, which did not name the organization. Toy Truck Drive. 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. "He asked me, he said do you know who I am? 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Tate Reeves appointed Anderson, former director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Attorney Generals office, to clean up the agency in the aftermath. I'm the Executive Director. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. We received sign in sheets and some activities that had been conducted., To make sure before actually calling their hand on this, Webb continued, I contacted another licensed social worker with a masters degree who had been employed by them under our Families First grant. Former Mississippi DHS Accountant Will Testify In Embezzlement Case An accountant involved in a a major embezzlement scheme has pleaded guilty to her role in a staggering theft of welfare money in Mississippi, the poorest state in the U.S. Hinds County Circuit. 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.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. Bluff City Life. He had the latitude to unilaterally disperse funds as he felt necessary or wanted to, Blanton confirmed. John Davis has been indicted in the largest embezzlement and fraud scheme in state history. He then earned a Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates on the Mississippi welfare scandal. Nancy New and her son Zach New are scheduled to stand trial on welfare embezzlement charges in October. 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. Johnson said, "I never had any problems prior to that. "Thats to create the transparency. Brett DiBiase has pleaded guilty for his role in an embezzlement scheme that investigators said was the largest in state history.The former pro wrestler was arrested in July 2019 along with several others, including former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis.DiBiase entered a guilty plea Thursday in Hinds County Circuit Court to making fraudulent statements for the . We hear from a former employee who is just one of many who were fired by Davis. Help keep the momentum going by rejoining our member community today. Brett Favre Scandal: Alleged $8 Million Welfare Scam, Explained - Forbes

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