DiBiase Family Among Those Sued By Mississippi DHS Over Misspent Funds

The Mississippi Department of Human Services has filed a lawsuit against 38 people, including the DiBiase family, over allegations of receiving misspent funds. The Mississippi DHS issued a press release on Monday announcing that a civil complaint has been filed against the 38 people who are alleged to have been responsible for or were recipients of the misspent funds.

As you may recall, Brett DiBiase pleaded guilty on charges related to the scandal back in December of 2020 after he was arrested that February alongside several others in what has been described as the largest case of embezzlement in the history of the state of Mississippi. He was accused of conspiring with five others to defraud the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

Brett DiBiase was paid $48,000 by the DHS as the business Restore2 and used several false and fradulent statements to receive payment, along with falsifying documents, invoices, reports, and ledgers to cover up the payments. He agreed to pay back the funds in restitution with his sentencing being differed. Ted DiBiase Sr.’s Heart of David Ministries religious non-profit is alleged to have received over $2.1 million in welfare from the state, and Ted DiBiase Jr. was paid by the Mississippi Community Education Center to provide training as to human services employees in 2018 and 2019. Federal agents attempted to seize Ted Jr.’s home in August of 2020 and prevented him from selling it.

The announcement reads (per PWInsider):

MDHS Commences Civil Litigation Against Parties Receiving Misspent TANF Funds
The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) today filed a civil complaint against 38 parties alleged to have been responsible for or to have been recipients of misspent TANF funds identified in the forensic audit conducted by MDHS.

“Governor Tate Reeves tasked me with correcting the path of MDHS,” said Bob Anderson, Executive Director of MDHS.

“As part of that process, MDHS has been working hard to restore trust and put in place numerous internal controls to ensure that misspending is not repeated in the future,” Anderson stated. “The rest of the task involves recovering and returning to the taxpayers the millions of dollars in misspent funds which were intended to benefit Mississippi’s needy families. We begin that task today with the filing of this civil complaint.”

Lastly, Anderson emphasized that, “This is our initial complaint, as in any civil lawsuit, as discovery proceeds, we anticipate that additional parties and additional claims may be added or changed as the matter moves forward.”

MDHS has posted the findings of the independent forensic audit and steps taken to correct the issues on the agency website. To view the independent audit, please visit: https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/forensicaudit

Suspected fraud can be reported MDHS online any time submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/, calling the Fraud Tip Line during normal business hours at 1-(800)-299-6905, or email at [email protected].

As this is an active litigation, MDHS will not comment further on this case.