MISSISSIPPI
A federal indictment was unsealed Thursday in Mississippi, charging a former professional wrestler with misappropriating millions of dollars in federal safety-net funds.
The money was intended for needy families and low-income individuals in Mississippi.
According to court documents, Theodore Marvin DiBiase Jr., 40, of Madison, along with co-conspirators John Davis, Christi Webb, Nancy New, and others, are alleged to have fraudulently obtained federal funds – including from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program – that they misappropriated for their personal use and benefit.
Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Davis was the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS). As part of the alleged scheme, after federal funds were issued to MDHS, Davis directed MDHS to subgrant the funds to two nonprofit organizations, Family Resource Center of North Mississippi Inc. (FRC) and Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC), which were operated by Webb and New, respectively.
Davis then allegedly directed Webb and New to award sham contracts to various individuals and entities purportedly to deliver social services, including at least five sham contracts awarded to DiBiase’s companies, Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem LLC., officials stated.
As further alleged in the indictment, under these sham contracts, FRC and MCEC provided millions of dollars in federal funds from MDHS to DiBiase and his companies for social services that DiBiase did not intend to provide.
DiBiase allegedly used these federal funds to buy a vehicle and a boat and for the down payment on purchasing a house, among other expenditures.
DiBiase is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy count, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and for each count of money laundering.
Trial Attorney Adrienne E. Rosen of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dave Fulcher and John Meynardie for the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.