John Davis has been indicted in the largest embezzlement and fraud scheme in state history. John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, was arrested within the largest alleged public embezzlement case in state history. Kelly Clarkson's Home Collection Is Up to 74% Off During Way Day Deals, The Best Wayfair Way Day Deals 2023 Starting at $30. With your help, we've gotten a lot done but we're not finished yet! Anderson has ushered in new procurement practices and financial controls to increase accountability among the departments welfare grantees. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). The Hinds County District Attorney secured an indictment on December 14, 2021. 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. Jackson faces 30 years and over $50,000 in fines if convicted on all counts. Nonprofits made most of these purchases, which obscured the spending from public view. New is the executive director of Oxford University School. Listen to this article Five of the six people accused in what could be the largest embezzlement scheme on record in Mississippi pleaded not guilty on Friday. DHS spokesperson Danny Blanton rejected the auditors narrative that the department concealed fraud reports from the auditors office. Nancy New was the owner and director of the Mississippi Community Education Center and New Learning, Inc. She also founded New Summit, a private school in Jackson. 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. Something went wrong. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nancy New and her son are also accused of transferring millions in TANF funds to their private businesses, White said. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates on the Mississippi welfare scandal. I'm the Executive Director. Though text messages show Bryant accepted an offer to receive Prevacus shares after he left office, Bryant told Mississippi Today he had no intention of accepting the stock. Here's an attempt to connect the players and what little is known thus far of the plot in this shameful drama: Johnson returned to the office, but the next day when he came into work, he got the news. We do not sell or share your information with anyone. Wooten said it appears as if the officials are attempting to try Davis case in the media. 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. Bluff City Life. READ MORE: Coverage of Mississippis sprawling welfare scandal. You have to credit Mississippi Today. We do not sell or share your information with anyone. 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. 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. 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. Farmington City Clerk Arrested for Embezzlement Mississippi Office of She said that you were disrespectful.". But fast forward to that afternoon session and my cell phone began to vibrate. Former Mississippi Welfare Director Charged With Embezzling Millions Blanton also said that since the department was still under contract with the nonprofits in the last months of 2019, the beginning of fiscal year 2020, it could not simply cut off their funding while auditors were investigating allegations. Check out these great suggestions. In July 2019, he announced he would resign by the end of the month. 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. We prefer Author Name, Mississippi Today in the byline. You have to credit Mississippi Today. On Tuesday, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne Wooten spoke strongly in defense of a gag order in the case of former welfare director John Davis, saying that media coverage of the scandal threatens the courts ability to assemble an impartial jury. You do not have the right to treat taxpayer money as your own or to lie to the taxpayers about what youre doing with that money. 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. I just wanted you to be aware of this information in case this comes up.. Officials charged Davis almost two years ago with conspiracy, embezzlement or fraud by a public official and making false statements to defraud the government. HINDS COUNTY, Miss. The scheme came [] Five plead not guilty in MDHS embezzlement scheme - Vicksburg Daily News We confirmed that it was John Davis who was making those approvals on the money. . 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. a proud member of the DHS concealed alleged fraud after welfare scandal - Mississippi Today To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). 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. A major part of Reevess education agenda has been to funnel state tax money to New Summit and other private schools in the state, including another one owned by New and son. 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. We prefer Author Name, Mississippi Today in the byline. 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 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 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. After DHS employees reported their findings to the Governor, the State Auditor was notified and the investigation was launched. DHS went on camera with WLBT to answer questions about what happened and what theyve changed to prevent the problem from happening again. The centers director had made a call to her warning her that we were there. The documentation submitted by the News claimed this was to pay DiBiase for conducting training classes that never, in fact, took place, investigators said. by Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today June 22, 2021, This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
. The News also directed millions in public money to their private businesses, used the money personally, and concealed the transactions, according to the auditors. 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 welfare agencys documentation, or lack thereof, shows Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi did not, as New stated, evaluate the services and outcomes of its grantees. 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. (WLBT) - It was one week ago that the news broke of whats been called the largest public embezzlement case in state history. 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. 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. 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. We want to make our employees comfortable and proud to be a part of DHS.. All of this is being put in place to make sure the sins of the past never recur in the future, added Blanton. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. He attended a professional development conference led by Davis outside the department and he says the encounter left him confused and embarrassed. It is also charged that DiBiase was paid state money for drug education work that he did not perform. 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. 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.". Start a recurring donation of any amount to further this work and help hold public officials and those in power accountable. Phil Bryant's office in June 2019. 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. Mr. White said the arrests stemmed from an eight-month investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which the state welfare agency administers. Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. MDHS discusses largest embezzlement scheme in state history, upcoming Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. 0:53. Davis also allegedly conspired to use welfare money, which his agency had granted to a nonprofit, to pay for DiBiases four-month long stint in a luxury rehab facility in California. Check back for updates. We could not cease funding until we had that letter from the state auditor (in January 2020). 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. We certainly do not want to falsely accuse. They explained to her that there had been no activities and no clients and they were told to come up with some regardless. She also worked as an investigative reporter for the Center for Public Integrity and Jackson Free Press, the capital citys alternative newsweekly. MDHS sits down to discuss the embezzlement case for the first time since the news broke a week ago. We center readers in everything we do, informingand engagingMississippians through reporting, podcasts, events and online communities.
How To Dissolve A Sponge,
96fm Rockwords Clues So Far,
Uk Consumer Law 6 Year Warranty Apple,
Articles M