Brett Favre pays back $ 600,000 in Mississippi welfare case, auditor says – WCCO

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JACKSON, miss (AP) – Retired NFL player Brett Favre reimbursed $ 600,000 in state social money he accepted for speeches he did not appear in, but state attorney general could sue Favre if he does not pay interest owed on the amount, the Mississippi auditor said Wednesday.

Auditor Shad White said Favre paid the auditor’s office the $ 600,000 this week. White sent a letter to the former Green Bay Packers quarterback on Oct. 12 demanding $ 828,000, or $ 600,000 plus $ 228,000 in interest.

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Of the $ 228,000, White said, “If he does not pay within 30 days of our request, the GA will be responsible for enforcing the interest payment in court.”
Favre is not facing criminal charges, but former Mississippi Department of Human Services director John Davis and others have been charged in one of the largest embezzlement cases in the ‘State. Allegations of abusive spending came to light in early 2020 when Davis and five others were charged.

White said in May 2020 that Favre, who lives in Mississippi, had repaid $ 500,000 of the $ 1.1 million in social assistance he received for several no-show speeches. Favre was paid by the Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former leader is among those awaiting trial.

In a Facebook post when he paid back the first $ 500,000, Favre said he was unaware that the money he received was from welfare funds. He also said his charity provided millions of dollars to poor children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.

On October 12, White demanded that several individuals and organizations repay $ 77 million in poorly spent welfare money intended to help people in one of the poorest states in the country. With interest, demand jumped to $ 96 million. This included the money asked of Favre.

Brett Favre (Credit: Dan Sanger / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

White made the requests about two weeks after a Maryland-based CPA firm released an independent report on how the Mississippi Department of Social Services spent 2016 to 2019 federal money through temporary assistance. to needy families. The report found nearly $ 41 million in “disputed costs” for items such as travel and support programs for college athletes.

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White demanded the full $ 96 million from Davis and most of the Mississippi Community Education Center and another nonprofit, Family Resource Center. Davis left the Department of Social Services in July 2019.

Those charged with Davis were former professional wrestler Brett DiBiase; former employee of the Department of Social Services, Latimer Smith; Nancy New, who served as director of the Mississippi Community Education Center and New Learning Resources; his son Zach New, who was deputy general manager of the education center; and Anne McGrew, accountant for the education center.

DiBiase pleaded guilty in December to one count of misrepresentation. He said in court documents that he submitted documents and received full payment for work he did not complete. He agreed to pay $ 48,000 in restitution and his sentence was deferred.

McGrew pleaded guilty on Oct. 11 to a charge of conspiracy to embezzle funds for his role in the case. She is awaiting conviction and has agreed to testify against others.

Davis, Smith, Nancy New and Zach New have all pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in state court.

Nancy New and Zach New have also been charged with federal charges, have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

The Mississippi Community Education Center, operating as Families First for Mississippi, received more than $ 44 million in government grants from mid-2014 to mid-2018, according to nonprofit organizations’ tax returns. The amounts have risen to $ 12.9 million and $ 26.7 million over the past two years, as Davis has outsourced much of Mississippi’s temporary assistance spending to needy families to the group.

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