Brett Favre to pay back over $1 million of government funds for appearances he didn't make
Brett Favre found himself in a weird controversy this week, and there was only one way out of it.
Favre, who was named in a Mississippi state audit for accepting $1.1 million for appearances he didn’t even make, has agreed to repay the money, according to state auditor Shad White. The Hall of Fame quarterback from Mississippi has repaid $500,000 and committed to repaying the rest in installments.
Favre was named in an audit that detailed an alleged multimillion-dollar welfare fraud scheme.
Brett Favre repays $500,000
The state’s Department of Human Services oversaw more than $94 million in improperly spent federal money that was supposed to assist at-need Mississippians, according to an audit.
DHS chose the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC) as one of the nonprofits in charge of spending money through the federal government’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, according to reports by the Mississippi Clarion Ledger and Associated Press.
Favre’s name was included because $1.1 million was paid to him for appearances that he allegedly didn’t make.
White made a statement, via the Sun Herald, on Wednesday regarding Favre’s repayment, saying:
“Today my office has received $500,000 from Brett Favre in repayment for TANF money he was paid through MCEC and a commitment to repay the remainder in installments over the next few months. The money will be held in our clearing account for a period and then be sent, in full, to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to be used for TANF-appropriate expenditures.
“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole. To date, we have seen no records indicating Mr. Favre knew that TANF was the program that served as the source of the money he was paid.”
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