Mississippi agency ex-leader pleads guilty in welfare fraud
Related: Former Executive Director of Mississippi Department of Human Services Pleads Guilty for Conspiring to Defraud the State of Mississippi (U.S. Dept. of Justice)
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Source: Associated Press
Mississippi agency ex-leader pleads guilty in welfare fraud
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
September 22, 2022
By Melissa Alonso and Dianne Gallagher, CNN
Published 11:42 PM EDT, Thu September 22, 2022
CNN — The former head of Mississippi’s Department of Human Services has pleaded guilty to both state and federal conspiracy and theft charges in what officials have called the largest embezzlement scheme in the state’s history, according to the Department of Justice and the Hinds County District Attorney.
John Davis, 54, served as the department director at the time that state auditors say more than $70 million of federal welfare funds were being misused, including being spent on officials’ personal expenses and being funneled into projects connected to prominent Mississippians, including former NFL quarterback Brett Favre.
The US Department of Justice said Thursday that Davis and “his co-conspirators” used federal funds “for their personal use and benefit.”
“At Davis’s direction, MDHS provided federal funds to two nonprofit organizations and then directed the two nonprofit organizations to fraudulently award contracts to various entities and individuals for social services that were never provided,” the DOJ said in a news release.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/sports-mississippi-jackson-conspiracy-4f067446b3f16db0768db052e783ff17
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