mississippi state auditor investigations mississippi state auditor investigations

"This completed audit of DHS for the previous year shows the most egregious misspending my staff have seen in their careers at the Office of the State . If extrapolated to the entire Medicaid program, Mississippi could be wrongly paying out between $130 million and $145 million, annually, to ineligible beneficiaries, according to the report. Former Auditor Stacey Pickering, whom Bryant replaced with White, declined comment. largest civil recovery after an auditors investigation in the history of the office, and concluded cases that, collectively, led to hundreds Founded in 2016 as the states first nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom, Mississippi Todays roots in Capitol coverage have grown to encompass a myriad of beats beyond politics and policy, including education, public health, justice, environment, equity, and, yes, sports. No further arrests have been made since February of 2020 . $10 million has been recovered from hundreds of other investigations.. The County Audit Section recovered disallowed expenditures totaling $34,124.47, White further explained. The Mississippi Office of the State Auditor assisted with the investigation. Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email. 1 0 obj Careers 2023 www.clarionledger.com. Centene also received two contract extensions. The guilty plea was recorded in Judge J. Kelley Luthers courtroom. A few agreed to talk with them, quite a few just never responded.. Jon Salem, who was fired from the council in August, said he was fired for bringing forward concerns that the council was misspending grant money, including those from local government. She also worked as an investigative reporter for the Center for Public Integrity and Jackson Free Press, the capital citys alternative newsweekly. But shortly after the arrests, White said that then-Gov. endobj White's office helped lead the investigation into Mississippi's $77 million welfare fraud scandal, . Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Special Agents from his office have served Management & Training Corporation (MTC) with a civil demand totaling nearly $2 million after the company failed to follow the terms of its contract to operate the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) facility in Marshall County. The state's settlement with Centene provides a glimpse of what the UnitedHealth probe may center on. Today State Auditor Shad White announced former Coahoma Community College employees Gwendolyn Jefferson and Stacie Neal were each sentenced to serve five years in prison. Hes also claimed the auditors are liars despite clear documentary evidence showing he benefitted from misspent funds. 6 0 obj You cant edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. The New's nonprofits received $9.4 million from MDHS from the time the auditor's office began investigating them in July 2019 until Feb. 4, 2020, two days before Nancy and Zack New were charged . You get those complaints that come in, and its what did you know and when did you know it. Mississippi Division of Medicaid investigators dont have the regulatory power to review tax returns themselves, something White said should change. An early oddity in the auditors probe came when White went to the Hinds County District Attorneys Office notoriously understaffed and suffering huge backlogs of cases after he launched an eight-month investigation without notifying federal authorities. Jackson, MS 39205-0956 Phil Bryant. Indictment, Brett DiBiase Pleads Guilty in Federal Court, Former City of Jackson Constituent Services Manager Pleads Guilty, Auditor White Hosts Panel Discussion on the Importance of Present Fathers. Our investigators have proven we will take on the biggest cases down to the smallest to protect taxpayer dollars, said Auditor White. This is the entry-level of professional program auditor work. March 23, 2023 JACKSON, Miss. The panel was held at Germantown High School and comes after Auditor White issued an August 2022 report showing the societal and economic costs of fatherlessness in Mississippi. The attention was drawn from them to the city, he said. [ @5 Y02YUU (s %I ea ) }Pr"aTH6 xRN Jv|,w\7"|L\M$E9VzT);2op)7=mi+uUv( wRP3LA3$H.~1q^T_JWN?yAKDMcJ.anLNm"'[:[^[kirKe(d)Cb 9,j\Vs?O'm=BcJ&i&#f9YmVpeo cU%&[ ^/^\"rH&uwoNu|"ROyVV[Ht&jwQ\=.Mut|qHr\la4#v/v 2cC.+:RBaGB]VJ7V MDEQ is the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. PBMS, pharmacy benefit managers, are companies that manage prescription drug benefits on behalf of drug programs like health insurance, Medicare, and the state Medicaid program. Copyright 2023 WLBT. Prior to making that move, she interned for a congressional office in Washington, D.C. and a multi-state government relations and public affairs firm in Jackson, Mississippi. I hope the report is taken seriously.. The guilty pleas were recorded in Judge Charles E. Websters courtroom today. In 2009 he was sentenced to two years in federal prison for his role in a judicial bribery case. This is one of the larger demands weve issued in my time in office. Both of them also own homes valued at more than $1 million. Program Auditor I. White's offices report may also be used as a bargaining chip for any possible legislation around Medicaid expansion no expansion without stronger oversight. They show the two men telling Bryant the company had received public funds, and that the governor intended to make his own business deal with Prevacus after he left office. Whites relationship with Bryant goes back more than a decade. Toll Free: 1.800.321.1275, Contact Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditors office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or via telephone during normal business hours at 1-(800)-321-1275. PIE Application, Mississippi Office of the State Auditor 2020, Statute of Limitations on Bribery Increased, State Auditor Shad Whites Statement on Theodore Teddy DiBiase Jr. xY]o6}7pbf8i3kx`^xsn;)L}/zE'tAHdqvAv5\b:9:X4IqGN;Z7nTWz3\TFSt7"hUZ2m+(GqrI((9}*JA4p&HAittQ:YIX}0|("8viY0m|k@d(Fs >)% d( ,w@VD Cj x@ dPm RAB a Representatives for Favre did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. Today State Auditor Shad White hosted a panel discussion on the positive impact present fathers have on their children. Documents obtained by WLBT earlier this month showed Auditor Shad White had launched an inquiry into the councils legal expenses related to its nearly two-year-long battle with the mayor over garbage pickup. All rights reserved. The total demand amount$1,991,774.10includes interest and investigative costs. Jackson, MS 39205-0956 Continue Reading, JACKSON, Miss. At this time, MDHS has no plans to change our engagement with Mr. Piggot in assisting with the continued investigation of the misuse of TANF funds. <> DpTJ The agency notified the city on April 5, urging leaders to reimplement residential collections, saying the temporary drop-off sites were not adequate to handle the citys needs. In his time as State Auditor, Shad Whites team has stopped the largest public fraud in state history, made the Note: After this story published, Auditor Shad White responded on Twitter. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. In this May 4, 2020, file photo, Mississippi State Auditor Shad White speaks during a news conference in Jackson, Miss. Internships . Two top advocacy groups are accusing Mississippi State Auditor Shad White of misleading Mississippians with a report claiming that up to 5% of Mississippians receiving Medicaid do so fraudulently.White announced in a statement on Tuesday that his office had discovered that the Mississippi Division of Medicaid was "potentially handing out millions to ineligible people." We were unable to get a six-year contract and there were questions and audit agreed that they thought, that based on the fact that we had consecutive emergencies, that could put us in trouble, the mayor said. pic.twitter.com/rDuj6yHTo6. The fact is that it was work that was performed over a period of six months for the city council. A bill for an act relating to state government; designating the state fire museum; changing provisions in state government operations; modifying enabling statutes for the Legislative Commission on Cybersecurity; modifying provisions related to the Office of the Legislative Auditor and the Legislative Audit Commission; authorizing forms of collateral for state deposits; modifying procedures for . But the people who are at risk now are the people who vote on claims all the time.. ", He said in the two-page letter to Garland that "failure to investigate may lead to the impression that DOJ is continuing the previous administration's pattern of looking the other way when laws are broken by white state officials, especially when the wrongdoing disproportionately harms minorities. The auditors office refused to turn the messages over to Mississippi Today after a public records request, and the outlet has a pending Ethics Commission records complaint against the office. In the case of the welfare scandal, Auditor Shad White's office turned over information to the Hinds County District Attorney's Office that suggested Nancy New . Favre has not been charged and has since started repaying the funds, according to the AP. Ole Miss shows they have some fight left in them. If Medicaid had the legal ability to do the analysis that we did here, there would be potential savings for the state and for Medicaid, he said. Whoops! He was political and investigative editor at the Clarion Ledger, where he also penned a popular political column. At least two Mississippi Medicaid recipients are making six figures and living in million-dollar homes, according to State Auditor Shad White, and he wants legislators to strengthen Medicaid. Mississippi State Auditor Shad White alleged that money set aside from the federal government for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) programs were misappropriated under the leadership of John Davis, then-head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, according to the letter. the State Auditor in Jackson or to the public body. In a statement about the DHS lawsuit White said: We will continue to work alongside our federal partners who have been given access to all our evidence for more than two years to make sure the case is fully investigated.. But the findings are statistically significant and can be reasonably extrapolated, according to Stephanie Palmertree, director of finance and compliance at the State Auditors Office. On Thursday, the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor (OSA) announced last months return of $63,660.90 to public coffers. Published: Apr. White was appointed the 42nd State Auditor of Mississippi in July 2018 and won election to the office after establishing In Mississippi, the state contracts with health providers to provide Medicaid coverage to nearly 500,000 people. Anne McGrew, an accountant for the MCEC, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to one charge of conspiracy to commit embezzlement. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services. by Geoff Pender and Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today May 12, 2022, This and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization. No further arrests have been made since Whites office initially arrested six people in February of 2020 Bryants head of DHS and another agency employee, former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase, a nonprofit and private school owner and her son and an accountant that worked for them. Hurst, a Trump administration appointee who left office in early 2021, declined a recent request for comment on the case. Phil Bryant's appointed welfare director in 2020 within a sprawling fraud scheme, state and federal investigators and prosecutors have failed to publicly scrutinize the governor's role which is palpable in written communication they've possessed for more than two years. The amount, roughly $45,000 for Mills, Scanlon, Dye & Pittman, also had been pulled from the April 11 claims docket. Instead, the Mississippi Department of Human Services allowed well-connected people to fritter away tens of millions of welfare dollars from 2016 to 2019, according to the state auditor and state . You have to credit Mississippi Today. Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Three former state auditors say they would have recused themselves or limited their involvement in the investigation into Mississippis welfare fraud scandal to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest due to current auditor Shad Whites close relationship with former Gov. We continue to protect the publics trust through evaluations of accounting practices and aggressive investigations of alleged wrongdoing. Especially if I wasnt going to take strong action on it, I would turn it over to somebody else.. Mississippi is one of several states probing the billing practices of its pharmacy benefit managers. The auditor's office has been investigating several of the state's pharmacy benefit management contractors since 2019, after hiring Ridgeland-based law firm Liston & Deas on the state's. But now they initiate the action to look at some invoices with all the other things that could have popped up on their radar?, Did they all of a sudden call the city up and say, Hey, weve been looking at your invoices, and we want to make sure that you guys are doing everything OK? Hartley said. <> The questionable funds included $5 million for a lease agreement for a multi-purpose wellness center that would later become a volleyball stadium, $635,000 for a virtual reality lab that included individuals who weren't identified as needy and $44,000 to retired professional football players for football camps that focused on student-athletes and did not address helping at-risk youth. Phone: 601.576.2800 ", Johnson urged "in the strongest possible terms to take immediate action to investigate and prosecute those involved in this massive theft of federal funds.". To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS). Toll Free: 1.800.321.1275, Contact Churchill, a former Town Clerk of Hickory Flat, was indicted and arrested for embezzlement in April of 2022. 750 North State St. Jackson, MS 39202. White also faced questions early on and criticism from the U.S. Attorneys Office as to why he didnt promptly bring in federal authorities, who have massive investigative resources, particularly since the malfeasance involved federal tax dollars. <>>> The email, along with a memo interpreting state law regarding the hiring of outside attorneys, was sent to the mayor and council just days before the two parties were expected to appear before Judge David Clark in Hinds County Chancery Court. Mississippi State Auditor Shad White has referred a case to the state's attorney general involving NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre and nine others who received millions in welfare dollars that should have gone to help the state's poorest. As part of its contract to operate the MDOC prison in Marshall County, MTC developed minimum mandatory staffing levels to ensure the safety of inmates and prison staff. Those connections have helped cast doubt over the independence and rigor of the state welfare investigation led by White. Agency Directory. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are third-party groups that negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and drug stores. NAACP President Derrick Johnson called on the Department of Justice "to aggressively investigate and prosecute those responsible for the massive theft of federal funds that apparently took place in Mississippi in fiscal years 2017 through 2019." . endobj Lee O. Sanderlin is an investigative and political reporter covering the state of Mississippi.