Updated with Brett Favre statement.
State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement.
Today my office has received $500,000 from Brett Favre in repayment for TANF money he was paid through MCEC and a commitment to repay the remainder in installments over the next few months. The money will be held in our clearing account for a period and then be sent, in full, to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to be used for TANF-appropriate expenditures. I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole. To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”
Brett Favre made this statement:
My
agent is often approached by different products and brands for me to
appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did
numerous ads for Families First.
I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.
I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.
It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.
I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet. To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi.
I have spent my entire career helping children through Favre 4 Hope donating nearly $10 million to underserved and underprivileged children in Mississippi and Wisconsin.
It has brought a ton of joy to my life, and I would certainly never do anything to take away from the children I have fought to help! I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.
62 comments:
I making another run to the Kroger.
(two more extra mega bags of popcorn are now in order).
I have a "gut feeling this ain't over.
I bet you don’t see the News posting any more Facebook pictures with their kids and Brett Favre
So for you people who want to stay at home... check out what New York discovered.
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/06/ny-gov-cuomo-says-its-shocking-most-new-coronavirus-hospitalizations-are-people-staying-home.html/>Stay at home, get the virus</a>
Brett ain't no fool. He evidently knows most anything beats going to jail.
Soooooo, a multimillionaire thought that it was okay to take money from a department of State that administers funds to the poor. Bullshit. He should be ashamed of himself.
Has the check cleared? That's a quick repayment announcement.
Some no show jobs are more equal than others.
Especially in Mississippi!
Shad, he sure as fuck knows he was paid money for services not rendered, regardless of where it came from. So I think I'm going to need a little more than an applause line for Brett here.
Are these installment payments interest free, too?
Interesting that he has to repay the money on an installment plan. I guess Farm Bureau ads and selling copper stuff aren't all that lucrative. And the total amount he was paid must be significant.
People are so dumb and shallow to have jocks as their "heroes".
Yes 5:36 - and while your comment has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I'm sure it made you feel good to show your ignorance.
People who live in New York don't live in the same situation 'at home' as people do in most areas of the country, especially Mississippi.
Those folks in New York live in large complexes, whether it is the uber rich in their high rise condos, or the folks who would be considered rich in Mississippi that live in apartment bldgs that cost a bunch but are cramped, or the others that live in the housing units with hundred, nay thousands, of bodies in the units.
Compare that to here and come back and try to hit your target with something better to use for ammo
At least he didn't send Shad an inappropriate selfie
The former Gov. and the rest of the USM alumni pep squad owe Mr. Farve a lot. And after all, it's not like they're rich people like the Hotty Toddy crowd. So they saw a chance to show their appreciation, how can you blame them?
To the Top!
Brett has always been a 25 watt bulb in a 100 watt socket. If you want to see someone who profited handsomely, look no further than the woman who, in MHP cruiser, toured the state 'teaching' children to read. How many hints do you need?
Hey Paul, you next?
Shad White for president!
Was he ever invited to the events he was supposed to attend?
And Mashall Fisher just joined Philbilly & Company. Does this shit ever end?
I'm impressed with the high character exhibited - very rare commodity.
Chris McDaniel is laughing his ass off.
This here's Hall Of Fame level grifting fo Shore!
Didn't Farve use the $1.1 million to help fund the VolleyBall Complex, along with the $5 million from Nancy? I'll have to reread your earlier story.
Hey, can you put the embezzlement stories in line, like you did the Ponzi scheme?
Shad, your stock just dropped. You were doing so well but now you are going to applaud Bret for getting caught with his hand in the till. He gets caught and does the right thing is great but you don’t applaud him.
...in a conservative Republican state....a former professional athlete was paid 1.1 million in food stamp money to do work that he never showed up for....And when he gets caught and Indictments start flowing and he pays a portion of it back, the State Auditor does a press release saying he didn't know anything fishy was going on......
now remind me what's y'all beef with liberals?
Dead serious question--when is Phil Bryant going to be brought in to the fray? Shad ain't going to do it. Feel was in charge of DHS, right?
I just thought, shit, you know. I mean, I didn’t know I actually had to do anything. Just you know. $1.1 to put my name on there. And so Shad “applauds” him. Jesus.
So if I rob a liquor store and I'm extra careful and don't hurt anybody can I bring the money back next year on an installment plan and not go to jail?
Is there any interest involved?
@10:38 Yea but Marshall Fisher just hired on at Bryant's firm in Madison.
Amazing isn't it @8:48?
Applauding someone who’s took a cool mill for zero effort? Really Mr Auditor? You really applaud him?
From what I've read, none of the 1.1 million went to pay for the 7 million volleyball stadium at USM with Offices for the nonprofit.
https://mississippitoday.org/2020/02/27/welfare-program-paid-5-million-for-new-volleyball-center/
PLEASE watch the video in this article. Marcus waltzes in with a film crew. He goes directly to a conference room that has about 9 people in a meeting. They all realize this is being filmed. Marcus started getting each one introduced....watch the guy immediately in front quickly close his laptop because the display can be seen. Needless to say, they weren't ecstatic about the filming...but it was too late
https://mississippitoday.org/2020/03/18/sports-legends-madison-county-horse-ranch-being-paid-for-by-nonprofit-at-center-of-welfare-embezzlement-firestorm/
So what about Paul Lacoste and his exercise program funded with welfare money. I’ve never read how much dirty money Paul took to exercise the fat legislators (which obviously doesn’t come with a guarantee of success). Does he plan to repay it ?
All the past state auditors would turn their heads and look away from fraud in a state agency, particularly one run by the governor. In the past the state auditor would only investigate a local official for using the city equipment to cut some old lady’s yard or something. This guy is going after the big boys. The ones that are stealing big bucks. And oh! Don’t sleep on the fact that all these folks he just busted have been giving campaign donations to all the players in power. Folks we got something here. We got something we have not Had before. Game changer
State Auditor getting softer, and softer, with each passing day. In Mississippi you can outright steal, and just give it back and all is forgiven.
If you're black however, you might do 10 years for bringing a cell phone in where you're not supposed to....
Mississippi is the sickest, most fucked-up, so-called Christian yet criminal culture in the nation....stay at the bottom where you belong. Mississippi is - across the board - everything you don't want to be, or be around. No one is in charge, and the train is running off the tracks while the poor are fleeced on a daily basis by every government agency.
And not a one of the above posters, all happily lost in their personal delirium, has read Favre's press release which states, in part, "My agent is often approached by different products and brands for me to appear in one way or another. This request was no different, and I did numerous ads for Families First. I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet."
If he did, as he says, 'did numerous ads' for that organization, then how do you people conclude that he 'pocketed money for doing nothing'? If he did NOT 'do numerous ads for them', then you have a right to bitch.
The egg on your faces has dried over-night, chumps.
Hopefully, he had to get it out of the stock market meaning he has lost his A§§ !
USM is going to let all TANF recipients into volleyball games for free and Brett gives the money back and says, "OOPS my bad!" Shad is satisfied. Let's move on. To the Top!
Shad is doing a great job on this investigation but at his core, he is a politician. Politically it wouldn't be popular to stomp on Brett Favre. Pop Brett's nose a little for being stupid - okay. Bring down Mississippi's greatest quarterback - not okay. Shad is playing the game.
I am left wondering why Breck Favre didn't do the commercials for the "children" for free as a public service since he loves the little children so much.
I remember a story about some firm that was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars by the state or legislature to go around our state to hang framed pictures in the school hallways..? Does anyone remember this? There was some message obviously, maybe anti tobacco or something. Anyway, somebody fleeced the State in my opinion when they got that sweetheart deal.....
Your damn right Shadly is not stupid. His applaud comment is just a little bullied nerd "bitch slapping" a jock for all to see.
550, 609 and other bothers
Read Farve's statement, which KF should add to this post, to get, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story.
Someone, Davis or the News, contacted his agent as other folks do and hired him to make some promo pieces. He didn't know what fund the money came from or that it was an inappropriate use of the money. He made the spots (just as he does for other children support groups, and commercial interests like Farm Bureau) and got paid.
It wasn't Farve that did something illegal, it was Davis and whoever was involved with Davis in spending this money for this purpose. Probably same story with Marcus Dupree's payments from this Davis/New/whoever slush fund.
Pick on Farve all you want without reason except for the fact that his name gets thrown in by the auditor because it helps him get more stage attention. Nothing has been shown to say Farve did anything wrong, much less illegal.
And, for the record, I'm not particularly a Farve fan (MSU grad, Cowboy fan). But I've read way too many Auditor and IG reports to know you have to have plenty of grains of salt on your popcorn while digesting them, because they take anything they can find that sounds interesting and throws it at the wall to see if it will stick.
No audit report I've ever read resulted in more than 15% of their 'findings' being anything that was a legitimate claim of wrongdoing. In this case, the agency (Davis et al) was wrong and the expenditure was likely wrong. But Farve's taking it was not, and his return of the money was a personal choice - certainly not a legal requirement
He's up to his neck in the cream scheme
Sometimes it amazes me of the ignorance of some people. You know you will never amount to anything so you jump at any chance to run down anyone who has been successful. BF has more money than you can count. He also had a documented history of giving huge amounts of money away through the years to help people in MS and WI. People with money like that hire people to manage their money and their commitments to appear, lend their name, etc. BF is also a kind of guy that won’t pass the buck by blaming others and throwing them under the bus . . . When it actually is on them that this happened. BF is far from perfect but some people need to get a clue.
Also, if we are going to out BF in relation to DHS and TANF monies let’s reveal all those individuals and organizations who got a money.
8:56 is just another Southern Ms. fan with that always present “chip on his (or her) shoulder”.
Didn't he wonder WHY. he did not have to do ANYTHING for the $??
I said it before this news broke and I'll reiterate it again: Favre has made numerous "less-than-wise" personal choices over the last 30-plus years, but can anyone name a single case of his acting with any maliciousness or criminal intent? Especially when needy people, and more especially children, were involved. I'd proffer to the court of public opinion the record clearly and indisputably indicates otherwise.
If $1 million was involved, it wasn't a deal made directly and only with Favre himself. And unless things have changed drastically in the last couple of years (and I doubt they changed at all), $1 mil going to "Brett Favre" really went to some LLC or other entity from which Favre himself may have gotten 1/2 to 2/3, after others took their share (including family members on the payroll). Is it possible that someone involved knew exactly what the score (pardon the pun) was? Yes but no idea how likely. Is it possible Favre himself knew? Anything is possible but that seems extremely unlikely.
And for the record I've met him and know people who _know_ him but I don't _know_ him and I have no financial interest in anything to do with him, directly or indirectly. If it turns out that he did know what was up, he deserves to be treated accordingly. Just as it wrong to steal money, it is wrong to accuse people of stealing money when there is no evidence they stole it.
Didn't he wonder WHY. he did not have to do ANYTHING for the $??
This here's why you hire the right help when you are a pro like Brett Farve. The agent handles all the details for Mr Farve. The rainmakers deal with the agent, not Mr Farve. That's what the agents are taking a percentage for. The services that they provide.
So you can reap the benefits and paper your excuses in advance!
That's probably why Mr Frave didn't even know he was getting paid for not showing up at something he didn't know about.
The agent just puts the money in the account and Mr Farve doesn't know nothing about it. Not where it came from, not even that it's there?
In defense of Mr Farve he could be the victim here. Or he could be getting a free skate. It's Mississippi. How much confidence do you have in the investigatory and prosecutorial skills and the justice system? Isn't it sometimes called the Just Us System?
"I would say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest, but the few that really control things are not honest, and that tips the balance." FZ
What do you expect from someone that doesn't even pronunciate his name the way it's spelled. shady
Money for Welfare Instead Funded Concerts, Lobbyists and Football Games, Audit Finds
According to a state audit, Mississippi allowed tens of millions of dollars in federal anti-poverty funds to be used in ways that did little or nothing to help the poor.
“Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil and greed and ignorance smothered in balloons and ribbons.” FZ
@2:22: Like Fauci?
Let’s talk about Paul Lacoste..... where is he?
So both the wives got salaries..... I wonder if they paid taxes on that money???
Doubtful. If they did, they knew they were taking money that wasn’t meant for them. If they didn’t, tax fraud... I am sure the FEDs will figure it out.
This is far from over... popcorn, need more popcorn!!!
Just tossing this out there, but Favre's agent is Bus Cook. Before Bus became a sports agent on Favre's coattails, was an attorney for Wiley Fairchild. "I learned a lot of what I know about doing business from Mr. Wiley," Cook said in an interview. For those who don't know who Wiley Fairchild was and how he did business, Google Walter Nixon, the impeached federal judge.
He paid it back because he got caught. I hope this aint over.
Hey there 9:50PM.
How's about lets hop in the wayback and I put another bone in the pot?
Paul H "Bud" Holmes. That would be the former Forrest County
District Attorney (and later at the time of his indictment Mississippi State District Attorney) Paul ("Bud") Holmes. That's the guy who apparently Mr Fairchild's son and his attorney decided to consult with just after after some people Mr Fairchild's son knew had been indicted on federal charges concerning an airplane and a load of Columbian marijuana.
@9:57AM
It was Drew Fairchild (Wiley's son) himself that got busted with the pot. If memory serves, among his other roles, Bud Holmes was Walter Payton's agent. Obviously Payton didn't have anything to do with any of this but Holmes was certainly been involved in his share of interesting situations. I have no idea if Holmes and Favre or Bus Cook have any connection relevant to any of this, but Cook and Fairchild and Cook and Favre certainly have long connections. That is all well-documented public record, including in numerous reported legal cases with regard to the Fairchilds, Bud Holmes, and Walter Nixon. Favre himself has said some interesting things on the record to reporters when speaking about Bus Cook yet Cook remained his agent.
The bottom line is that I seriously doubt Favre would have taken this money had he known the source but I'll let the courts sort out what those around around him knew or didn't know. I will speculate this far: those getting the popcorn ready now may not be disappointed.
Shad White will get to the bottom of this. Book it.
If one acquires money illegally & then returns the money, has one still not committed a crime to be punished by law?
Not a good look for the no show but get paid anyway, no pay back like he said he would former NFL guy.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/05/10/brett-favre-hasnt-repaid-mississippi-welfare-funds/5018602001/
Welcome to the big leagues @$$hole!
A year after promising to pay back $1.1 million in welfare money he received, Brett Favre has yet to pay back $600,000 of that money — and he's not under a formal agreement to do so.
Favre voluntarily repaid the state of Mississippi $500,000 in May 2020 after the state auditor's office found that a nonprofit paid the retired NFL quarterback welfare money for speeches he never gave.
Logan Reeves, spokesperson for the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor, said no one in the office has spoken to Favre since he made his promise and paid the $500,000.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2021/05/10/brett-favre-hasnt-repaid-mississippi-welfare-funds/5018602001/
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