Mississippi Today’s Anna Wolfe explains sprawling welfare fraud case

https://www.sdotvenom.com/social-scandal-exacerbates-contrasts-in-long-poverty-mississippi

Mississippi Today’s Anna Wolfe explains sprawling welfare fraud case

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by Mississippi Today
December 23, 2021
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Mississippi Today investigative reporter Anna Wolfe has been covering the state's sprawling welfare scandal for years.

Nearly two years after officers from the Mississippi state auditor’s office made arrests in a sprawling welfare fraud scheme and turned their investigative files over to federal agents, four people still await trial and the FBI has made no arrests.

A Hinds County grand jury indicted six people, including former welfare director John Davis and prominent nonprofit founder Nancy New, in February of 2020. Two of the six, a nonprofit accountant and retired WWE wrestler Brett DiBiase, have pleaded guilty. Prosecutors alleged they conspired to steal a total of more than $4 million from a federal program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

But as soon as agents made the arrests, it was apparent the scheme was much more sprawling. A forensic audit conducted by independent accountants and released in October found nearly $70 million improperly spent.