Mississippi
‘A whitewash’: Emails show MDHS pushed to hamstring probe into welfare misspending
![‘A whitewash’: Emails show MDHS pushed to hamstring probe into welfare misspending ‘A whitewash’: Emails show MDHS pushed to hamstring probe into welfare misspending](https://mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AP_20064783888072-scaled.jpg)
The Mississippi Division of Human Providers employed an accounting agency, utilizing welfare {dollars}, to ostensibly unravel who stole or misspent tens of millions in federal grant funds and attempt to recoup them.
However never-before-published emails Mississippi Right this moment obtained via a information request present Gov. Tate Reeves’ appointed MDHS director pushed to restrict who and what the employed forensic audit might study. And he tried to maintain the state auditor and different legislation enforcement businesses out of the combo.
“That is nothing however a whitewash to indicate that MDHS was not complicit on this downside, apart from (former MDHS Director) John Davis,” a deputy in state Auditor Shad White’s workplace wrote to White in April of 2020 after reviewing the proposal MDHS drafted to solicit an auditing agency.
White’s workplace was to be a “third occasion” to a contract with a forensic auditor. However MDHS pushed to restrict the Workplace of the State Auditor’s involvement and even at one level omitted language requiring the impartial auditor to contact OSA or different legislation enforcement if it noticed potential crimes — a normal apply in audit contracts.
Gov. Reeves mentioned he appointed MDHS Director Bob Anderson, a former prosecutor, in March of 2020 to scrub up the welfare company. Weeks into Anderson’s administration, he clashed with White over the forensic audit proposal, information present. White pushed to develop the breadth of the evaluate and supply extra OSA involvement.
“We ought to be on the identical facet – the facet of the taxpayers, looking for the misspending that occurred at DHS and all of the folks accountable,” White wrote to Anderson in April of 2020 throughout heated negotiations concerning the forensic audit proposal. “For my part, you might be both for an audit that can reveal these issues, just like the audit we’ve proposed, or you aren’t. Your proposal because it stands would waste taxpayer cash and never attain the problems that must be reached.”
Neither Reeves nor Anderson would conform to an interview concerning the forensic audit points or present remark in response to Mississippi Right this moment’s findings.
READ MORE: Welfare head says shock subpoena led to legal professional’s firing. Emails present it wasn’t a shock
White, who’s concerned in separate state and federal prison investigations into the welfare scandal, appeared to win some concessions on the ultimate forensic audit contract. On the similar time, he objected to MDHS accessing the auditor’s workplace’s workpapers.
However in the long run, the distinguished nationwide accounting agency Clifton Larson Allen employed for the audit famous it was restricted — and in some circumstances “severely restricted” — in what and whom it might study in its probe and mentioned it might doubtless have discovered extra misspending if allowed freer rein.
MDHS just lately lamented the forensic audit’s limitations, and tried to put these limitations off on Auditor White’s workplace. However communications between the 2 throughout spring of 2020 point out MDHS pushed for extreme limits on the probe.
“If I have been you, I might need to know the place the misspending occurred and who’s accountable, not spend my time negotiating downward an audit with OSA,” White wrote to Anderson. “If you wish to spend DHS cash on this audit in order that the present workers can keep away from wanting unhealthy, with out you discovering who was concerned with the misspending, then you’ll bear the duty for that and any further misspending that occurs going ahead. I cannot take part.”
Gov. Reeves, who oversees MDHS and appointed Anderson, just lately mentioned the CLA forensic audit is the lodestar for the state’s lawsuit towards quite a few folks and companies to attempt to recuperate a number of the a minimum of $77 million in misspent welfare cash. He additionally made clear he’s calling the most important photographs at MDHS in relation to the lawsuit.
Reeves fired the legal professional MDHS had employed to recuperate the cash after the legal professional went past the scope of the forensic audit. The legal professional tried to subpoena information about attainable involvement of former Gov. Phil Bryant and his spouse, former NFL soccer star Brett Favre and the USM Athletic Basis — lots of whose board members are massive marketing campaign donors and political supporters of Reeves. Reeves mentioned legal professional Brad Pigott ought to have caught to the metes and bounds of the forensic audit, and accused him of getting a political agenda and looking for the media highlight when he went past it.
READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves says ousted welfare scandal lawyer had ‘political agenda,’ wished media highlight
White has criticized Pigott’s firing and mentioned the state ought to search to recuperate all of the misspent cash it may well. He mentioned he’ll ensure that state and federal prison investigators have the information Pigott tried to subpoena.
On the time MDHS was getting ready the forensic audit proposal request, White was already gearing as much as launch a report in Could of 2020 that questioned $94 million in MDHS spending and illustrated systemic failures of the welfare division.
White’s audit discovered that the welfare division regularly violated the legislation by spending funds from a federal program known as Short-term Help for Needy Households, a federal block grant infamous for getting used as a slush fund in some states on initiatives that didn’t fulfill the needs of the grant or didn’t serve the needy.
However the forensic audit by an impartial agency, not White’s report, can be the doc the state would use to find out who to carry civil litigation towards to recoup misspent funds.
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Some folks, together with a minimum of one prison defendant arrested in February of 2020, anticipated a forensic audit to considerably contradict White’s narrative about widespread misuse. An electronic mail White despatched his deputies alludes to the notion some had that the auditor’s workplace had an agenda in going after MDHS.
“I’m additionally tempted to inform them it is a nice method to decide if we’re auditing to ‘body’ a ‘narrative’ or not: simply let a non-public CPA have broad leeway to verify or disprove our findings,” White wrote.
Emails Mississippi Right this moment obtained now reveal that MDHS’s present management might have tried to put its thumb on the size to mitigate publicity for the company as a complete, together with dozens of workers who reviewed expenditures and contracts.
“To be utterly sincere — it is a half-hearted try to finish a forensic audit that has utterly erased our enter,” wrote Stephanie Palmertree, monetary and compliance audit director for the state auditor’s workplace who headed up a lot of its MDHS probe. “And seeing how MDHS is defending the clearly fabricated contract procurements that they’ve accomplished, I’m undecided I might belief the present workers to decide on an impartial auditor. It is a PR try at making MDHS appear to be they did all they might.”
READ MORE: 7 baffling issues about Mississippi’s welfare fraud scandal case
As a part of the invention course of within the civil case, Mississippi Group Training Heart, the nonprofit based by prison defendants Nancy New and her son Zach New, has requested for communication from MDHS associated to the forensic audit to look at the way it might have artificially focused choose distributors.
In his electronic mail response to a missive from White in April 2020, Anderson mentioned, “My goal is and has been since I arrived right here at MDHS to ferret out the misspending and the accountable events … We’re making an attempt to vogue an RFI (Request for Data) that captures the settlement between each the businesses and that defines the parameters of what is going to be an costly and prolonged audit endeavor.”
The contract with CLA was for as much as $2.1 million. However in response to a evaluate of expenditures on the state’s transparency web site, MDHS has solely paid the agency lower than $800,000, one in all few occasions the company has appeared frugal with spending federal welfare {dollars} on issues apart from poor folks.
At one level, in response to White’s workplace suggesting adjustments to the audit proposal, Anderson mentioned, “A lot of what we took out pertains to the prison investigation … which isn’t the aim for this forensic audit for the reason that prison case is already indicted …”
White took umbrage with this and responded: “You might be conscious that the assertion ‘the prison case is already indicted’ is inaccurate; I’ve instructed you and the general public that the case continues to be being investigated. Extra indictments are attainable. Even when the investigation weren’t nonetheless ongoing, one would need prison exercise reported to legislation enforcement.
“… I’m undecided why you eliminated each your earlier language and OSA’s language on reporting prison exercise,” White wrote to Anderson. “… Additionally, there’s some confusion about what a ‘forensic’ audit is. The AICPA (American Institute of Licensed Public Accountants) notes that the time period forensic means to be appropriate to be used in a court docket of legislation. Eradicating the language that claims this audit might function proof in a authorized continuing is to take away a part of the audit’s very objective.
“The identical could possibly be mentioned for eradicating the language about how auditors could also be known as to testify in court docket,” White wrote. “And the identical could possibly be mentioned for eradicating language requiring misappropriations to be ‘listed by particular person, as could possibly be confirmed in a authorized continuing.’ This audit ought to hint expenditures to completion and present, with findings that might arise as proof in court docket, who directed that spending, whether or not these individuals are inside or outdoors DHS.”
Requested for remark about limitations on CLA’s forensic audit, a spokesman for White’s workplace mentioned, “We are going to let CLA’s audit communicate for itself on areas the place CLA believed that they had sufficient data to conduct the audit and the place CLA was restricted.”
In its audit reviews delivered in September of 2021, CLA famous that it was not given entry to former DHS Director John Davis’ laptop onerous drive and it was initially restricted in whose emails it might study.
“CLA was unable to acquire a duplicate of John Davis’ MDHS onerous drive, because it was within the possession of the (Workplace of State Auditor) investigative division. Moreover, the scope of labor restricted CLA’s evaluate of emails to incorporate solely John Davis’ MDHS emails. If different digital proof had been made obtainable to CLA, further data not presently recognized to CLA might affect the findings communicated on this report.”
READ MORE: ‘It doesn’t look good’: At 3-year mark, extra questions than solutions in Mississippi welfare fraud scandal
White’s spokesman mentioned: “As we’ve defined beforehand, the onerous drive (it was truly his laptop) was obtained via our prison investigation. We don’t make proof obtained in a prison investigation obtainable to anybody outdoors of legislation enforcement. That features personal CPA companies. In fact, we obtained that laptop from DHS. If DHS backed up any information on the pc to their community, that could possibly be made obtainable per a public information request. We’d additionally remind you that, whereas we is not going to present the pc to a non-public CPA agency, we’ve made all of our proof, together with the onerous drive, obtainable to the FBI.”
CLA additionally famous that the New nonprofit, Mississippi Group Training Heart, didn’t present information to the auditors and didn’t cooperate with its probe. A lot of the theft and misspending within the scandal occurred via MCEC, which was serving to run a statewide anti-poverty program known as Households First for Mississippi.
White’s spokesman mentioned: “Regardless of pledging to help auditors, the Information failed to offer MCEC’s unique documentation of spending to CLA, as CLA famous. CLA was given entry to copies of all of the MCEC paperwork (contracts, invoices, basic ledger reviews, and so forth.) that the auditor’s workplace had. Sadly, copies are usually not thought-about unique documentation. Solely MCEC might present unique documentation. With out unique documentation, CLA needed to notice that their audit was restricted. DHS finally determined to not pursue acquiring unique paperwork from MCEC after MCEC didn’t cooperate. OSA was requested to make use of our subpoena energy to acquire paperwork from Coronary heart of David, and we did.”
However in a supplemental forensic audit report launched in April, Clifton Larson Allen famous that they didn’t even have entry to a lease settlement that the State Auditor possessed, and have been pressured to retrieve it from a information article.
One other deputy in White’s workplace who reviewed MDHS’ drafts for a forensic audit proposal, on the time famous, “Very restricted scope outdoors of TANF (federal welfare {dollars}). We all know SSBG, CCDF and SNAP funds have been additionally misused. They’ve even restricted the scope to contracts directed by Davis to solely TANF contracts … Agency is simply required to alert MDHS of potential prison exercise, not us, the federal authorities or legislation enforcement.”
White, on the time, wrote to Anderson: “Clearly prison exercise ought to be reported to us, not simply DHS, as we’re the state’s chief legislation enforcement company for crimes involving public funds. DHS’s failure to report prison exercise to the Auditor’s workplace has been an issue prior to now.”
White’s spokesman this week defined that OSA auditors, as routine, repeatedly requested DHS workers over a number of years in the event that they knew of fraud on the company, and “… Staffers repeatedly didn’t report any fraud in these conferences.”
Whereas it was admittedly incomplete, the forensic audit report launched in October 2021 didn’t considerably reverse White’s findings. It decided a complete of $77 million was misspent: $36.1 million in welfare purchases that broke federal guidelines, together with $12.4 million value of attainable fraud, waste or abuse, plus a further $40 million that auditors mentioned they didn’t have correct documentation to investigate.
THE BACKCHANNEL: Full protection of Mississippi’s welfare scandal
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Mississippi
Who should be SBLive’s Mississippi high school player of the week? (Aug. 25-31)
![Who should be SBLive’s Mississippi high school player of the week? (Aug. 25-31) Who should be SBLive’s Mississippi high school player of the week? (Aug. 25-31)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_1280,h_720,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/voltaxMediaLibrary/mmsport/high_school/01j5m63arexrvt6r9tmr.jpg)
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Mississippi high school Athlete of the Week for August25-31. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. The poll will close Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email Tyler@scorebooklive.com. For questions/issues with he poll, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.
Editor’s note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes that receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Kohl Bradley, DB, George County: Racked up 17 tackles and returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown in a 33-7 win over East Central.
DaJuan Colbert, DB, Natchez: Recorded 15 tackles, forced one fumble and returned another one 75 yards for a touchdown in a 58-50 win over Hancock.
Garrison Davis, QB, Holmes County Central: Completed 14 of his 21 pass attempts for 375 yards and three touchdowns in a 20-6 win over Vicksburg.
Xzavion Gainwell, DB, Yazoo County: Recorded nine tackles, an interception and an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Panthers’ 20-16 win over South Delta.
Elijah Jones, RB, West Jones: Had 24 carries 226 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-6 win over Laurel.
Kingi McNair, WR, Pearl: Caught four passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-20 win over Neshoba Central.
Ashton Nichols, DB, Clinton: Recorded six tackles to go with two big pass breakups, a blocked punt and a return for a touchdown in a 26-20 win over Warren Central.
Ethan Prater, RB, Pisgah: Rushed for 132 yards on 27 carries with three scores and caught a 60-yard touchdown pass in a 33-32 win over North Forrest.
Glen Singleton, RB, Madison Central: Rushed for 174 yards on 18 carries with all four touchdowns in a 27-20 win over Ocean Springs.
Damarius Yates, RB, Kemper County: Rushed for 193 yards on 17 carries and returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown in a 38-15 win over Kosciusko.
Mississippi
‘If they cannot play Thalia Hall, they cannot play in Mississippi at all’: Broadway in Jackson speaks out about possible show cancellations
![‘If they cannot play Thalia Hall, they cannot play in Mississippi at all’: Broadway in Jackson speaks out about possible show cancellations ‘If they cannot play Thalia Hall, they cannot play in Mississippi at all’: Broadway in Jackson speaks out about possible show cancellations](https://gray-wlbt-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/3KMJQZPKGBHNRCT7NENQ3O72YY.png?auth=8e7e3183f489f41a63616389bdae4dd45efc187856d208138265c67183c736b4&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – It’s been one month since Thalia Mara Hall closed its doors due to a mold outbreak.
Innovation Arts and Entertainment is the company responsible for bringing Broadway productions to Jackson.
Representatives from the company visited Jackson after hearing the building had been closed.
CEO Adam Epstein says the City of Jackson did not inform them of the news.
“We did not find out from anybody within the city. We found out by reading news clippings forwarded to us by other people in Jackson,” Epstein said.
Certified Industrial Hygienic Testing reported visible dirt, debris, and suspected mold growth on many surfaces.
Epstein fears this could change the possibility of bigger shows coming to the capital city.
“They’re going to skip over us because of this mess. We need to show as a community that Jackson cares about this valuable asset and that we demand our elected leaders to support and treat this really, incredibly valuable asset with the TLC it deserves,” he said.
Thalia Mara Hall is the only venue in the state that can host a Broadway production due to the technical needs and accommodations required.
“Touring theatrical shows. If they cannot play Thalia Hall, they cannot play in Mississippi at all,” he said.
Broadway in Jackson is not only a great source of entertainment in the city, but it’s also beneficial economically.
“Those other businesses don’t benefit. The city doesn’t earn tax revenue from events that we present. They don’t earn rental income from the events we present. They don’t earn facility fees from the events we present. This is a real tragedy. It’s unacceptable.”
The well-being of the potential audience is the company’s main priority.
“I will not risk our ticket buyers’ health and safety and comfort. Our shows can and will cancel before we’d ever put somebody in jeopardy. We’ve issued a 100% guarantee of a full refund if the venue is not given a clean bill of health,” Epstein said.
All shows will be canceled on a case-to-case basis.
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Mississippi
Tire failure suspected in deadly Mississippi bus crash, NTSB says
![Tire failure suspected in deadly Mississippi bus crash, NTSB says Tire failure suspected in deadly Mississippi bus crash, NTSB says](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/07/11/USAT/9631b18b-dce5-449d-a448-47f4b71a9b44-MS-01.png?auto=webp&crop=3954,2224,x823,y443&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting a probe into Saturday’s crash that killed seven and injured 36 people.
The deadly bus crash in Mississippi that killed seven people and injured dozens of others early Saturday occurred after the vehicle experienced a tire failure, causing it to run off the road and overturn, officials and authorities said.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board, in coordination with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, are conducting a probe into Saturday’s crash that left seven people dead and another 36 people injured. The collision occurred at about 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Vicksburg, Mississippi, when the bus left the roadway and overturned.
The bus, which authorities described as a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus, traveled westbound when its left front tire failed, NTSB member Todd Inman said at a news conference Sunday. The bus then moved onto an embankment and rolled over on its left side.
Inman added that investigators will be at the scene for at least another week and are looking into several factors of the crash, including the vehicle’s mechanical condition, motor carrier safety, the condition and experience of the driver, and environmental factors.
According to U.S. Department of Transportation records, the bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos. Records show that in the 24 months before Saturday, the transit company’s vehicles were involved in one fatal crash, two injury collisions, and a crash requiring a tow truck.
The transit company has over 20 years of experience and provides trips between more than 100 destinations throughout Mexico and the United States, according to Autobuses Regiomontanos’ website.
“Everyone at the NTSB sends their expressions of sorrow for everything that the survivors and victims of this crash went through,” Inman said.
7 killed, 36 injured in bus crash
The bus carried a total of 41 passengers and two drivers, according to authorities. It was traveling from Atlanta to Dallas when the incident occurred.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash, according to Master Sergeant Kervin K. Stewart with the Mississippi Highway Patrol. Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and another person died later at a hospital, Stewart said.
Another 36 people were transported to area hospitals.
Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said two victims killed in the crash were identified by their mother as a 16-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy, according to The New York Times. Authorities were working to identify the other victims.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
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