How Was Brett Favre Involved in the Mississippi Welfare Scandal? Inside One of the Biggest Public Fraud Cases in History

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21-05-2025

In 2020, Brett Favre was embroiled in the Mississippi welfare scandal
The scandal exposed state employees who were taking money from funds dedicated to families in need for personal use and the use of high-profile athletes
Favre was never arrested or charged in the case, but he was named as a defendant in a civil caseIn 2020, Brett Favre found himself at the center of the Mississippi welfare scandal.
The fraud case made headlines when several Mississippi government employees were accused of embezzlement. The scheme, which became the biggest public fraud case in the state's history, was exposed after at least $77 million from a program helping poor families was misused.
'The funds that were illegally obtained in this case were intended to help the poorest among us," Mississippi state auditor Shad White said in February 2020 while announcing the charges, according to The New York Times. "The funds were instead taken by a group of influential people for their own benefit, and the scheme is massive. It ends today."
Favre's name arose while authorities investigated where the money was redirected. In May 2020, a state audit revealed that the Hall of Famer was paid $1.1 million for speaking events where he was not present. Favre was also accused of working with state officials to redirect $5 million from the funds to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi, his alma mater and the school where his daughter played the sport.
The former Green Bay Packers athlete was never arrested or charged with a crime, but he had to pay the state back for the $1.1 million in unattended speaking event fees. He has denied any involvement in the fraud or any knowledge of where the money was coming from for the volleyball stadium, although prosecutors have suggested that text messages between Favre and one nonprofit director prove the former NFL star was aware of the scheme.
Favre's history with the scandal was investigated in the Netflix documentary Untold: The Fall of Favre, which premiered May 20.
Here's everything to know about the Mississippi Welfare Scandal and what happened to Brett Favre after he became a key figure in the case.
The Mississippi Welfare Scandal is the biggest case of public fraud in state history, per WTOK.
The scheme took place from 2016 to 2019 when $77 million from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) fund and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) were misappropriated and used on projects unrelated to helping Mississippi families.
The scandal involved several high-profile state officials who were named in a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi state auditor. Former Mississippi Department of Human Services official John Davis was at the center of the scheme and eventually pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, per a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Davis was accused of misusing the funds for his "personal use and benefit." In September 2022, he was sentenced to 32 years in prison, according to PBS.
The former head of the Mississippi Community Education Center, Nancy New, also pleaded guilty to wire fraud, bribery of a public official and racketeering. Nancy and her son Zachary, who also pleaded guilty to fraud and bribery, ran a nonprofit that obtained more than $2 million from state funding and used the money for their private lives. The mother-son duo both accepted plea deals which would ensure they only serve the time sentenced from the federal case, per Mississippi Today.
In addition to Davis and the News, five other people were indicted in the scheme.
Former professional wrestler Brett DiBiase was one of the key players arrested in 2020. He was accused of fraud and embezzlement for accepting money from the welfare agency to pay for his drug treatment at a rehabilitation facility in Malibu, Calif., according to Mississippi Today. In March 2023, DiBiase pleaded guilty to one federal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He could face up to five years in prison, but he has not been sentenced.
As of September 2023, all seven criminal defendants in the case remained out of prison as federal litigation was ongoing, per Mississippi Today.
In May 2020, it was revealed that $5 million of TANF funds were used to help build a volleyball arena at Favre's alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter also played the sport.
In 2022, a text message between Favre and New from five years prior became public. In the 2017 text, Favre asked New, "If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?"
Favre has denied all wrongdoing and said that he was unaware where the government funds were coming from.
"I have been unjustly smeared in the media. I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight," he said in a 2022 statement, per Fox News. "No one ever told me, and I did not know, that funds designated for welfare recipients were going to the University or me."
In addition to the volleyball stadium, Favre was also named in the scheme for two other multimillion-dollar payments. State auditors claimed that $1.7 million from TANF had gone toward developing a treatment for concussions at a company supported by Favre, per NBC News. Favre was also accused of receiving $1.1 million for speeches he did not make. He denied all allegations.
In September 2024, Favre testified in front of the Congress' House Ways and Means Committee about advocating for additional ways to protect TANF funds.
'Instead, I'm here to share what I've now seen up close, about how reforms are needed to stop the misspending of TANF funds," he said at the time.
Although he was there to focus on additional guardrails, Favre also revealed that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Favre was never arrested or charged in the Mississippi Welfare Scandal.
However, in May 2022, the Mississippi state auditor named Favre as one of the defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in an attempt to regain the misappropriated funds. Shortly afterwards, Favre's legal team filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and claimed that the lawsuit was attempting to use his status as a "national celebrity" to "deflect responsibility" from the government, according to CNN.
In April 2023, a judge denied the dismissal and ruled that Favre would continue as one of the defendants. His spokesperson later said that Favre was "disappointed in the court's ruling," per The Washington Post. Just one month later, a local judge filed a gag order and demanded that all parties not speak about the case ahead of the trial, according to The Magnolia Tribune.
As of July 2024, a trial date for the civil lawsuit has not been set, per The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Favre also filed a defamation suit against the state auditor, White, for statements he made surrounding the case, per the Associated Press.
Shortly after the misappropriated funds came to light, Favre repaid the $1.1 million he allegedly received for the speaking events he didn't attend, per the AP. He repaid $500,000 in May 2020 and the remaining $600,000 in October 2021.
However, the state auditor claimed that Favre never paid interest and sued him in 2024 for an unpaid $729,000, according to Forbes.
Mississippi state attorneys have also claimed that Favre never repaid the $1.7 million they alleged was invested in the concussion treatment company or the $5 million allegedly given to the University of Southern Mississippi's volleyball stadium, according to The Guardian.
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