Allegations of Brett Farve's Role in Welfare Embezzlement Resurge Amid the Jackson Water Crisis

[beysactingcoach]

Click to view

You may have heard quick blips about this story awhile back, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre got roped into something about receiving money from embezzled funds. The welfare funds were intended for Mississippi's TANF program (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Mississippi is the poorest and lowest supported state in the nation.

The case is quite complicated and involves a lot of players and scores and scores of embezzled funds, here's a rundown from Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe who interviewed with ESPN Daily (I'll link some of her pieces as she's done some in-depth reporting on this issue for quite some time.)





- Former Mississippi governor paid Favre 2.5 million USD in welfare funds to fund a state-of-the-art volleyball stadium where Favre's daughter played

- at least 77 million dollars have been accounted as being misused, making it the biggest misuse of funds in the state's history

- under John Davis director of TANF, there was a restructure where money wasn't going directly to those who needed

- four people have been arrested for the misuse

- Favre is an investor in a pharmaceutical research company and essentially used his celebrity ties to get the company funding. He also took $1 million for himself under the guise of promoting the welfare program.

- a state auditor released a report October 2021 that embezzled funds or purchases that violated welfare spending rules amounted to nearly $80 million, resulting in civil suits naming 38 people including Favre

- Nancy New a very well politically connected school administrator funneled money on luxurious cars and property and bribes to the state's political big wigs with none of the funds going to the school which is supposed to help children with learning disabilities. New has pled guilty as she was facing up to 100 years in prison and is now revealing evidence which includes the following timeline

- in July 2017, Favre asks for funding for the volleyball stadium from Nancy New and John Davis who commits $4 million immediately

- New and Favre communicate working with the governor, Phil Bryant, to expedite this request

- more money is needed for the volleyball stadium so a plan is devised to pay Favre the $1 million to do ads for TANF but asks New "if you were to pay me, is there anyway the media can find out where the money came from and how much?"

- Favre and his legal team maintain he had no idea that he was receiving embezzled funds, but some texts show that he knew he was receiving grant money which are not private funds. After getting a person $500K payment he text Nancy saying "Santa came today".

- after an examination of a $48,000 misuse payment that was supposed to go to a wrestler for opioid recovery education, that's when it unraveled. John Davis was taking those payments for himself. Last week Davis pled guilty to state and federal charges

- Favre has apparently paid back the principal 1.1 million he received but state auditors want him to pay back the interest

Apologies about the haphazard write-up, there's actually quite a bit to the story that Favre is really just a blip but the most notable figure. If you'd like to get your blood pressure up, read Anna's research.

Sources
PBS NewsHour clip
Anna Wolfe's Reporting from Mississippi Today (there's also option to listen to the articles)
ESPN Daily Spotify Episode