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Shad White Unveils Mississippi Swindle Brett Favre And The Welfare Scandal That Shocked America

This is the book NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre DOES NOT want you to read. Shad White is the Mississippi state auditor who exposed Favre for his involvement in the diversion of millions of dollars in TANF money- money meant to aid the poorest people in the nation's poorest state-in order to build a deluxe volleyball facility at his college alma mater. But Favre was only part of a much larger coverup. Now, in MISSISSIPPI SWINDLE: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America (Steerforth Press; August 6, 2024), White tells the riveting story of how a small group of powerbrokers enriched themselves by misdirecting nearly $100 million in federal money, and how White led a scrappy team of investigators and auditors to bring the culprits to justice. White's office unmasks a sprawling conspiracy that stretches from Mississippi to Malibu and involves famous athletes, media personalities, and public officials. -more- Born and raised in Mississippi, White won a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a JD from Harvard. He returned to Mississippi and became the youngest state auditor in the country. Eleven months after his appointment, he received a tip that would lead his team to uncover the largest public fraud case in Mississippi history. At the scheme's heart was John Davis, the head of the state's Department of Human Services. Through the agency, Davis provided tens of millions of dollars of funding, meant to provide services for the state's poor, to organizations run by a woman named Nancy New. White discovered that Davis, New, and a cadre of family and friends collected that money to fund their lavish lifestyles that included a home, vacations, and luxury cars. White and his team also discovered the New family had spread money so widely around the community that it was in plenty of people's best interest to not question it. Charity after charity received TANF funds-from local high school bands and beauty pageants, to the Junior League of Jackson and sports booster clubs, to the millions of dollars for the volleyball facility, via Brett Favre's influence. MISSISSIPPI SWINDLE is a story of how power is acquired and maintained. For White, some of those in power sought to maintain it by pressuring him to "handle the case quietly." Favre himself dug in, issuing denial after denial, and later using his celebrity bullhorn and an army of lawyers in an unsuccessful bid to intimidate White and his family. It's also the story of the corrosive nature of fraud that's at the heart of Americans' loss of faith in their institutions. White offers the good news that the remedy resides with the people who can put a stop to that fraud and convince everyday Americans they are being treated fairly and their money is being protected.

Broadcast on:: 21 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: other

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That was really the purpose of the book is to tell people the full story of what happened with this large public fraud scheme in Mississippi and then what we can do to prevent it, hopefully, in other places. Why has it fallen out of the media? This stuff should still be front page news. I think one reason is that the case at this point is now four years old and the arrest that we made initially to put a stop to the flow of welfare funds happened back in February of 2020. Then we released an audit a few months later. And of course, right around that time, that's when there was the COVID breakout. I was going to say, yep. Yeah. I think it got lost in the wash there for that period. It made our work difficult during that time because we had to continue to do our jobs and continue to investigate and do audit work even in the midst of the pandemic, the beginning part of the pandemic. But to me, that is all the more reason to tell the story of what happened here and tell how vulnerable these programs that are designed to benefit poor folks actually are too fraud. We see this happen over and over in different states, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New York, Mississippi. So I hope that folks will read the book, take it seriously, and ask hard questions about the programs in their state that are designed to help poor people. See, I'm so glad that you brought that up, that it happens in other states, because I get worried about things like this, because the NFL has always been so close to the community's money that and what you're doing is you're opening up our eyes and our hearts to something that that has been taking place around the country. Yeah, you know, I'll give you another example of a program designed to benefit poor folks that I was stolen from. So in Minnesota, there was a program, it was a federal grant designed to feed needy children and federal prosecutors have said that they believe that about $250 million, so a quarter billion dollars of money flowing through that program got stolen. That is a tragic pattern that we see repeat itself over and over in multiple states, programs designed to help needy people get stolen from. And the reasons I think are one, we end up giving a lot of money from these federal programs to nonprofits, and we hope that they will use the money to benefit poor folks. Unfortunately, the government doesn't do a great job of monitoring those nonprofits to see that they actually deliver on their end of the bargain. And then two, the programs are designed to help poor people. And sometimes if a needy person sees something that doesn't make sense or sees something that suggests that there's something shady going on with the program, they may not know who to report it to. So that's the kind of stuff that makes it easy for, unfortunately, for folks to steal money from these kinds of programs. Easy to steal the money, but this journey to make this public and to keep, you know, true to it, then to write the book, this has been one hell of a tough journey for you. I mean, you were only 11 months into your career and oh boy, look what I've got right now in my hands. That's exactly right. And you know, even after we investigated it, after we turned it over to prosecutors, after the prosecutors filed charges against the first six individuals, we went and arrested those individuals. There was still a ton of public pressure on me, because some of the people that we arrested after they got charged were well-known individuals here in Mississippi. So I'll tell you this quick story. The Sunday after we arrested the first six individuals, I was at church with my family and the church service ended. You know, the organ is playing and you're packing up everything. I had my wife and I had our oldest daughter at the time. We now have three kids, but we just had our oldest at the time. And I was packing up her bottle and the stuffed animal and all that kind of stuff. And a woman who had never seen before in the pew in front of me turned around and she said, "You're a Shad White, the state auditor." And I said, "Yes ma'am." And she said, "You arrested all of those people this week." And I said, "Well, my office arrested those individuals in a large welfare scandal that we uncovered." And she said, "Well, I know some of those people and you're wrong." And she stormed off. And so I had multiple interactions like that after this case broke. But the point for me was that regardless of what somebody's reaction is, I have a duty. My duty is to tell taxpayers the truth about what happened to their money, regardless of whether it makes a few people mad or whether we have to arrest somebody who's friends with important people or something like that. And that's what I have to do. And if I'm not willing to do that, then I've got to go find a new job. How did you develop that coat of honor and coat of basically inner support? Because when somebody starts coming after you like they did with their words and with their actions, I mean, obviously you were surrounded by you were in church. That's a great place to be. You were surrounded by family. But the community had to surround themselves around you as well in order to protect your soul. Well, I would say that you can't do it alone. And the way we were able to get through this as an office was together. So I'm surrounded by people in my office, the office of the state auditor who are professional, competent people who share the same values that I share, they want to get to the bottom of how taxpayer money is spent. And they're proud of their work because they're accomplished professionals, they're career investigators, they're attorneys, they're highly decorated CPAs who have gotten their licenses and done great work, their support staff. Everybody, all 135 of us in the office of the state auditor, we all share this mission and this deep commitment to making sure that the public can understand where their money went. And so even if there was pressure on me from the outside or mean words at church or whatever it is, I always had my family and I always had my work colleagues, the folks who would lock arms together that always stood together to try to make sure that we were getting this case done and doing it in the right way. You know, I got to tell you something here. I got to compliment you on this. And because you talk about how being the state auditor is the hardest job in the world, but you just spoke of the people that make up the auditor. And I just think that is so incredible that you speak of the people and not just, oh, it's me, it's me, it's me. So that says a lot about you. Well, you know, in my book, it begins and ends with the same sentiment. So the first paragraph and the last paragraph and the sentiment is this. What I'm talking about today on the show and what I talk about in the book really is the work that was done by the men and women of the office of the state auditor here in Mississippi, not by me. I mean, I get to pick the division directors. I try to go to the legislature. I try to get them the resources they need. I set big picture strategy for the office. But at the end of the day, they're the ones doing the work. They're the ones who had to dig in and solve this case. And I felt like their story needed to be told. And one of the reasons their story need to be told is that they worked hard. They told the truth. They knew that their reputations were on the line when they did this audit and when they wrote down the facts, even if the facts would be hard for some people to hear. And so I wanted them to have the opportunity to have their story told to the public so that people would understand these are some folks who showed some courage who are highly competent and who did a good job here. Receiving that phone call, that original one from the governor, was it one of those where your heart just sunk? And you're going, Oh, this, he's not joking because this is coming from the government desk. Yes. And I'll say this, I get a lot of those phone calls in my life as state auditor, whistleblower tips. And that that really is what leads to the cases that we have. We've recovered more money in the last six years than any other six year period in the history of the auditor's office because people are willing to step up and bring forward information. But that was the first phone call that I had gotten from the governor of the state of Mississippi. There was a whistleblower tip. And so yeah, when you get a call like that, you know that it's not a joke. Governor Bryant previously served as state auditor himself for 11 years. So he knows when he sees something that doesn't look right. And he saw something that didn't look right. And so yeah, it raised the level of intensity on that call. And it forced us to dig in really, really quickly. And I'm glad we did because seven, eight months later, we had put a stop to a very, very large public fraud scheme involving welfare money. Speaking of the call, let's change that to the calling. Because when you talk about the T and F and this money being meant for the poorest of the poor, do you not think that you were called to do this by the universe by God? You know, I think that God guides all of our decisions in life. And and you know, I wake up every morning and pray for a couple of things, I pray for wisdom. And I pray that whatever, whatever I'm doing in my life is reflective of God's will, because I think if you if you try to go outside of that, it's probably not going to work out. So I will pretend to understand the mind of God and what he has in store for all of us. But I do wake up every day trying to reflect that will. And and I think that, you know, I'm lucky in that I built a certain set of skills over many, many years when I was in law school, I just fell in love with criminal law and took everything that I could around criminal law. I interned at the US Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts at that time. Later on, I became a certified fraud examiner. I got my certificate in forensic accounting. I had no idea how I would use those skills one day. I just felt like this was something that I needed to do. And then when this moment came, I had to call on all those skills in order to get this case done and to and to lead a team that they got the case done. At Sprout's Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. Step into our bulk department to discover a world of options with hundreds of scoopable bulk bins and grab-and-go favorites. From wholesome grains and spices to limited-time goodies like pumpkin apple cashews and butter-toffee peanuts. Plus buying in bulk means you can get as much or as little as you like for your next recipe or snack attack. Visit your neighborhood Sprout's Farmers Market today, where flavor fills every scoop. At Sprout's Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. That's why you'll find the season's best local and organic produce, hand-picked, and waiting for you in the center of our store. Visit your neighborhood Sprout's Farmers Market today, where fresh produce is always in season. Who is Nancy and why should readers sit there and go, "Oh, I've got to take notes on who Nancy is?" The Nancy knew is the head of a nonprofit down here. She's an influential Mississippian who was well-known across the state. She was the one who, one of the ones who entered into a conspiracy with John Davis, who's the head of the state agency that handles welfare money down here. John would give big grants of welfare money over to Nancy's non-profit, and then he would tell Nancy and her team that he would want the money spent in some ways that were illegal. For example, he asked that some of the welfare money be used to pay for an expensive drug rehabilitation treatment in Malibu for one of John's buddies. Nancy, after a little while, she and her son then began spending some of that welfare money at their non-profit on things that benefited them like cars or technology, that kind of thing. Really, a lot of the welfare money that's involved in this case was flowing through Nancy News' non-profit, including the money that ended up going to far of enterprises, for instance, which is Brent Farve's business. It was one of the strangest ways to basically bump into this guy, because I mean, Brent Farve coming after you and your family, that's not how you want your football heroes to come after you. And it's like, how does that help your heart with the love of the game? Yeah, you know, I grew up here in rural South Mississippi. I grew up, I guess, about 40 or so minutes from the University of Southern Mississippi, where Farve played every little boy that grows up in rural Mississippi loves football and most of them grow up in South Mississippi, at least, watching Brent Farve and many of them idolizing Brent Farve. So it was a surreal experience for me having to deal with all of this and frankly, not an enjoyable one for many, many years. As you mentioned, there was a look like somebody who was one of the attorneys for Mr. Farve came to my house in the middle of the day once, right after my wife had one of our kids and was at home just recovering from pregnancy. Weird stuff like that that happened all through the course of this case. And so anyway, I would say it was not fun, but my job is to do the audits, lead the team, tell the taxpayers what happened to their money, even on days when it's not fun. That's the job. Did you keep notes? Because I'm really big into journaling everything. I like paper trails. And when things like this happen, I want to be able to go back and say at this time, on this particular day, this is what unraveled. Yes, I was in question of it. Now we've got to grow with it. I'll be honest, I'm not really a journaler, but I did, you know, I was writing this book and the document that I had that eventually where I was capturing some of the stories that eventually became the first draft of the book. So I guess in that sense, yeah, I was writing these things down. And now the public can read all of it in the book. I mean, I think it's important, because this is a complicated case, because there's some stuff like the visit to my house that nobody knew about at the time. I think it's important for people to understand what happened down here. They can understand who was involved, what they did, what some of them failed to do, some of the people who probably should have stepped up and helped on this case, who didn't do it. Those are the kinds of things that needed to come out. And I understand that, you know, that's not going to make everybody happy when you tell a story like that. But I said it in the first couple of pages of the book, you know, there'll be people who complain about this book. Those are probably the people who are most embarrassed about what they did or failed to do during the course of this case. Speaking of those first couple of pages, you dedicate this book to your children as well as the state of Mississippi. That's a wide open heart there, sir. Yeah, you know, I think having kids changes anybody. I have three kids and they're ages five, three and one. So this is this is the quietest room I've been in in several days right now. Every every minute is pandemonium at our house. But I look at those kids and I think, you know, what am I doing in my job to make this state better for them? You know, I'm a lifelong Mississippi and I was born and raised here. I'm going to die here. I hope that my kids will also want to stay here, will work here, will want to have a family here, will will ultimately raise my grandkids here. And so I have to look at myself in the mirror every day and ask, am I doing something, the things that I'm allowed to do in my position? Am I doing something to make this state better? Yeah. And that's a big motivator for me. But it was also a big motivator for me in writing a book. You speak my street, dude, because I will do that with employees. I'll sit there and I'll say, do you realize that what you're doing today is not about you, but rather you are serving a community and that community has got to grow forward? I mean, you are, are you doing motivational tours to speak on behalf of things like this? Uh, no. I'll say this, you know, my, my life's really busy. I mean, I've, um, I've got, I work as state auditor here. It's a, it's an incredibly demanding job. I'm also in the Mississippi National Guard. So I got back from guard duty last night actually, uh, and took off my uniform and, and ate dinner and got my kids down and then woke up this morning and back at it. So I don't, I don't have a ton of time for that kind of thing. Um, but again, you know, that's, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to write the book is if I don't have, I don't have time to go tour the country and tell people what happened here. Um, I at least want to get the words written down onto the page so that people will have a chance to read it wherever they may be. Native American spirituality teaches us that what we do today will affect the next seven generations. Is money going back into these families? Because I mean, because you've now opened up a path, does the money go back in there? Or has this all been shut down? You know, we're, we're at a really critical, um, point here in Mississippi because, uh, there was a ton of money that didn't go to benefit poor people from 2016 to 2019. And then we put a stop to the theft back in early 2020. So after that, you know, now the state is suing a bunch of people to try to get that money back. That litigation is going to take years, but I hope that once it's over, there will be a bunch of money that, that will be spent in the way that the law requires on folks that are supposed to benefit from this program. The other reason is that the critical moment in Mississippi is that the agency that handles welfare funds, they, they still are sitting on north of $90 million of welfare funds because they, it seems they haven't actually figured out a good way to spend it in the wake of the scandal. So yeah, we've got a ton of money that, that is sitting on the sidelines that needs to get, needs to get going to benefit the folks who need it the most. Yeah, because it's got to get to that seventh generation, dude. I mean, because I'm so into helping people and the, you know, that, that need it. And then, but if it's being sat on, it's like, Oh my God. So where can people go to find out more about what you're doing in your community so that other states can learn from it? Yes. So the, the book is available on Amazon Barnes and Noble at your local bookstore too. And so that, that tells the story of what we did here. And if folks want to follow the office of the state auditor, you know, you can always follow me on Twitter, @shadwhite. Those are the places where I talk about what we're doing as an auditor's office. And, and honestly, you know, wherever you may be, you can support those individuals who are your state auditor, the, the folks who are investigating white collar crime in your state, because those are the folks on the front lines who, who, who have to put a stop to these kinds of schemes in your local community. Wow. By the way, great name. I'm, I'm shocked that a radio disc jockey has not stolen your name because shad white would be a cool name to use as a disc jockey. Thank you for that. I come by it honest. We'll, we'll thank my mom for that. Please come back to this show anytime in the future. The door is always going to be open for you. Thank you, my friends. Honor to be here. Will you be brilliant today, okay, shad? Thank you, sir. At Sprouts Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. Step into our bulk department to discover a world of options with hundreds of scoopable bulk bins and grab-and-go favorites. From wholesome grains and spices to limited-time goodies like pumpkin apple cashews and butter toffee peanuts. Plus, buying in bulk means you can get as much or as little as you like for your next recipe or snack attack. Visit your neighborhood Sprouts Farmers Market today, where flavor fills every scoop. At Sprouts Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. Step into our bulk department to scoop up as much as you like from hundreds of bins filled with wholesome grains and limited-time goodies. Visit your neighborhood Sprouts Farmers Market today where flavor fills every scoop.