The son of Ted “The Million Dollar Man” DiBiase Sr. and a former WWE wrestler, Ted DiBiase Jr., has been charged with stealing millions of dollars in federal safety-net money for low-income families in Mississippi, according to a federal indictment that was unsealed on Thursday.
DiBiase Jr. was allegedly one of a group of people who exploited the money meant for low-income people and families for their own personal gain.
The indictment also names Nancy New, the former director of the Mississippi Community Education Center, John Davis, the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, Christi Webb, the president of the Human Resource Center of North Mississippi Inc., and others.
According to a formal statement from the Department of Justice, Davis’ MDHS subgranted money to Webb’s and New’s groups from the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, among other sources.
After that, Davis allegedly said to Webb and New, “to award sham contracts to various individuals and entities purportedly for the delivery of social services, including at least five sham contracts that were awarded to DiBiase’s companies, Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem LLC.”
According to the indictment, DiBiase Jr.’s groups received millions of dollars to offer social services, which they did not and never meant to.
DiBiase Jr., according to the indictment, instead used the money to “buy a vehicle and a boat, as well as for the down payment on the purchase of a house, among other expenditures.”
“DiBiase is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering,” the statement read.
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If found guilty, DiBiase Jr. would be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge, twenty years for each wire fraud charge, and ten years for each theft and money laundering charge.
Since he is currently a Christian minister, DiBiase Sr. launched the “Heart of Davis Ministry” in 1999.
According to sources, the ministry received more than $2.1 million in welfare payments from Mississippi in February 2020 due to his son Brett’s appointment as the deputy director of the state Department of Human Services. Later, in October 2022, a judge ordered DiBiase Sr. to repay $722,299 in missing money.
Then, in what is regarded as the most significant fraud case in state history, the Mississippi Department of Human Services sued the DiBiase family to recover $20 million in “squandered” monies. The lawsuit also involved Brett Favre, an NFL Hall of Fame quarterback.
“I have been unjustly smeared in the media,” Favre said in a statement provided exclusively to Fox News Digital in October 2022. “I have done nothing wrong, and it is past time to set the record straight.”
“Neither the University nor I were ever informed that payments intended for welfare applicants were being sent to us. I tried to aid USM, a public university in Mississippi, in its fundraising efforts to build a wellness center. My objective has always been to make my university’s athletic facilities better.
“With the full knowledge and consent of other State agencies, including the State-wide Institute for Higher Learning, the Governor’s office, and the Attorney General’s office, State agencies provided the funds to Nancy New’s charity, the Mississippi Community Education Center, which then gave the funds to the University.
“I was told that the legal work to ensure that these funds could be accepted by the university was done by State attorneys and State employees.”
DiBiase Jr. is most known in the wrestling community for participating in “The Legacy,” a trio that included Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes. He departed WWE in 2013 but kept competing on the independent circuit until he retired in 2017.
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