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Brett Favre
On Monday, the Mississippi Department of Human Services is suing retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre and three former professional wrestlers, along with several other people and companies, to try to recover millions of dollars spent on welfare to help some of the most -poor people in the United States
The trial says the defendants “squandered” more than $ 20 million in temporary assistance programs for families in need to fight poverty.
The case was filed less than two weeks after a mother and son, who ran a nonprofit group and an educational company in Mississippi, pleaded guilty to state criminal charges related to illegal spending. Nancy New, 69, and Zachary New, 39, have agreed to testify against others in what State Auditor Shad White called the Mississippi’s largest public corruption case in two decades.
In early 2020, Nancy New, Zachary New, former Mississippi Human Services chief executive John Davis and three others were indicted in state court, with prosecutors saying welfare money was misused for items such as drug rehabilitation in Malibu, California, for former professional wrestler Brett DiBiase.
DiBiase is a defendant in a lawsuit filed Monday in Hinds County Circuit Court, as well as his father and brother, who were also professional wrestlers, Ted DiBiase Sr. and Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr.
Ted DiBiase Sr. was known as the Millionaire Man as he fought. He is a Christian evangelist and motivational speaker and leads Heart of David Ministries Inc., which received $ 1.7 million in social assistance in 2017 and 2018 for mentoring, marketing and other services, according to the lawsuit.
Last year, White demanded $ 77 million in improperly spent social funds from several people and groups, including $ 1.1 million paid to Favre, who lives in Mississippi. Favre is not charged with criminal acts.
White said Favre was paid for the speeches, but did not show up. Favre returned the money, but White said in October that Favre still owed $ 228,000 in interest. In a Facebook post when he paid the first $ 500,000, Favre said he did not know that the money he received came from social funds. He also said his charity has donated millions of dollars to poor children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.
Months ago, the audit firm handed over the demands for the return of illegally spent social assistance money to the Mississippi Attorney General for enforcement. White said in a statement Monday that he knew the attorney general’s office would eventually file a lawsuit.
“I applaud the team that is filing this lawsuit and I am grateful that the state is taking another step toward fairness for taxpayers,” White said. “We will continue to work with our federal partners – who have been given access to all our evidence for more than two years – to ensure that the case is fully investigated.
Monday’s lawsuit said Favre was once the largest outside investor and shareholder in Prevacus, a Florida-based company trying to develop a cure for concussion. The lawsuit alleges that in December 2018, Favre called on Prevacus CEO Jake Van Landingham to ask Nancy New to use welfare money to invest in the company.
The lawsuit also states that Favre hosted a presentation on the sale of Prevacus shares at his home in January 2019, which was attended by Van Landingham, Davis, Nancy New, Zack New and Ted DiBiaz Jr., and that he an agreement was reached to spend “significant” money from social benefits at Prevacus and later at its corporate subsidiary PreSolMD Inc.
The lawsuit says the shares are in the names of Nancy New and Zack New, but are also for the financial benefit of Favre, VanLandingham and the two companies. The lawsuit requires the payment of $ 2.1 million in social assistance funds that were wrongfully paid to the two companies in 2019.
The Associated Press on Monday called a number once on Favre Enterprises’ list, and a note said it was no longer in use.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Gov. Tate Reeves said in a joint statement Monday: “Our goal in this lawsuit is to seek justice for the broken trust of the Mississippi people and to recover funds that have been misused.”
Davis was elected to head the Ministry of Human Services in 2016 by the then governor. Phil Bryant – who, like Reeves, Fitch and White, is a Republican. Davis is retiring in July 2019 and is awaiting trial on criminal charges of abuse.
Brett DiBiase pleaded guilty in December 2020 to one charge of making a false statement. In court documents, he said he had submitted documents and received full pay for work he had not done. He agreed to pay $ 48,000 in restitution and his sentence was postponed.
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