WLOX 13 in Biloxi is reporting that WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase and his sons Ted Jr. and Brett DiBiase have been sued by the state of Mississippi for millions of dollars of misused federal funds meant for welfare.
According to the report, the long awaited civil lawsuit, which intends to claw back roughly $24 million in federal funds misused in a scandal officials began to unravel three years ago, targets DiBiase Sr. and his two sons, and 38 others including former Green Bay Quarterback Brett Farve.
The lawsuit alleges Nancy New and her son Zack New used their nonprofit organization to illegally funnel ‘tens of millions’ of dollars into other nonprofits. John Davis, who was then the director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, befriended Ted DiBiase Jr. and had raised him up within the department to receive payments from two of the New nonprofits, totaling over $3 million dollars in anti-poverty funds.
The report also notes that the funds were meant to “address the multiple needs of inner-city youth” despite DiBiase Jr. possessing no legitimate qualifications to provide the services in relation to the federal grant called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
The following is also per the report from WLOX:
The lawsuit further states Brett DiBiase received duplicate payments from each of the nonprofits totaling $600,000 and “never performed services of any significance which served any lawful TANF purpose.” Brett DiBiase also went to a luxury rehab clinic in Malibu on the nonprofit’s dime and was paid as a contractor while he was there, is the only TANF sub-recipient to face criminal charges. Brett pleaded guilty to fraud in 2020 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. The lawsuit also alleges the luxury treatment center, Rise in Malibu, knew or should have known they were receiving funds illegally, and names the facility as a defendant. John Davis also had the nonprofit to pay for Ted Jr.’s travel, including first class flights, a luxury hotel suite and a chauffeured limousine, to visit Brett DiBiase in California while he was in treatment.
The lawsuit says Ted DiBiase, Jr. urged Davis to divert $1.7 million in TANF funds to his father’s (Ted DiBiase Sr.’s) Heart of David Ministry. It was also stated that Ted DiBiase Sr. used some of the money for personal expenses, did not maintain any personnel files or a financial management system, and while his organization maintained a website. It was also noted in the lawsuit that “the website content was entirely created at MDHS expense by an employee of MDHS, as ordered by John Davis. Also Davis, Webb and Family Resource Center employee Amy Harris also arranged for the nonprofit to pay Ted DiBiase Sr. a lump sum of $250,000 for motivational speaking. When he received the check, Ted DiBiase Sr. emailed his sons, “Look what I got today!” also as per the lawsuit. The lawsuit also says Ted DiBiase Jr. also urged Davis to divert TANF funds to a consulting and management services contractor Adam Such. Davis got Webb to pay Such $250,000, the lawsuit says, to pretend to operate a “Center for Excellence” and a “referral network,” though “nothing of substance was expected of or delivered by Such.”
The lawsuit asks for almost $2.9 million in damages from Teddy DiBiase and the same from his companies, almost $2 million from Ted DiBiase Sr., $1.7 million from Heart of David, $824,258 from Brett DiBiase, $48,000 from his company Restore2 LLC, and $160,000 from Rise in Malibu.
The lawsuit lists Ted DiBiase Sr. owing $1,971,223, Ted DiBiase Jr. $2,897,487, and Brett DiBiase $824,258.
Nancy and Zack New, who recently pleaded guilty on separate federal charges for using public school funds for their private school, have received plea deals in the state welfare fraud case and are cooperating with prosecutors.
You can read the full story at WLOX-13’s website
Links to our previous two reports are below.