Seven New England fishermen charged with tax evasion and failing to file returns "Chapitos" charged in department's latest actions to disrupt flow of illegal fentanyl and other dangerous drugs Mississippi Community Education Center has also failed to turn over documents the agency needs to complete its forensic audit or conduct a full grant closeout the departments process for ensuring the nonprofit complied with grant requirements and spent the funds properly. We work to find them. 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. Instances of fraud and abuse in Mississippis welfare system were widespread, including among other organizations who received subgrants from the Families First nonprofits. She explained that she quit due to fear of losing her license and the requirements of the supervisor. You can only publish select stories individually not as a collection. It is also charged that DiBiase was paid state money for drug education work that he did not perform. And they did start an internal audit at the beginning of 2019. Brett DiBiase pleads guilty for his part in DHS embezzlement scheme - WAPT They dont need it at the moment. DiBiase is the son of well-known former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase. 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 was appointed executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Resources by then-Governor Phil Bryant in January, 2016. Wooten said it appears as if the officials are attempting to try Davis case in the media. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest updates on the Mississippi welfare scandal. The documentation submitted by the News claimed this was to pay DiBiase for conducting training classes that never, in fact, took place, investigators said. Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. 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. NEMiss.NEWS is a locally owned and operated online news magazine containing news, information, opinion, etc. Gov. New is the executive director of Oxford University School. Many employees have said they were fired for menial things. 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. Former DHS director, wrestler arrested in 'largest public embezzlement case in state history'. White was appointed State Auditor by then-Governor Phil Bryant in 2018, when State Auditor Stacy Pickering resigned. 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. Johnson says he never received anything other than glowing employee reviews. I dont care how politically connected a person may be. No one has been charged in connection with these purchases. Earlier news reports indicated that the initial inquiry into the MDHS scandal may have been kicked off by Governor Bryant himself. That ultimately led to (Wednesday's) arrests," DHS officials said in a statement. Nonprofits made most of these purchases, which obscured the spending from public view. Paul Lacoste did not return calls Tuesday morning. following organizations: Whoops! Everything was going well. Check back for updates. Jones said he had no knowledge of any alleged fraud and that the nonprofit had cooperated with audits from the department as well as the auditors office. 2023 www.clarionledger.com. The funds that were illegally obtained in this case were intended to help the poorest among us, Mr. White said in a statement Wednesday. This is a developing story. We work to provide free, accessible news for everyone to create a more informed Mississippi and hold public officials accountable. Create a recurring donation today to join our mission. Copyright 2020 WLBT. Davis and Smith created documents and arranged payment knowing DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform, White said. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Phil Bryant's office in June 2019. JACKSON, Miss. All rights reserved. MDHS is concerned about the authenticity of MCEC documents due to submission of numerous versions of the same request in a monitoring visit, Anderson wrote to the auditors office in March in response to the latest report. 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.
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