Former WWE Star Ted DiBiase Jr. Charged in Mississippi Welfare Scandal

Former WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. faces more than a dozen charges in stealing millions of dollars from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families anti-poverty program that is set aside for underprivileged families and low-income people in Mississippi.

DiBiase was charged with “one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit 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,” according to a federal indictment that was unsealed Thursday.

If DiBiase is convicted on the charges, he could face up to “five years in prison on the count of conspiracy, up to 20 years for each wire fraud count as well as 10 years for each count of stealing” involving programs receiving federal funding as well as money laundering, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. 

In addition to DiBiase, former Department of Human Services executive director John Davis, Christi Webb, Nancy New and several others were listed as coconspirators in the welfare scandal. Ted DiBiase Sr., the father to DiBiase Jr. and Brett DiBiase, were included in an October 2021 document from Mississippi’s state auditor Shad White, who requested that the trio pay back the money they received in TANF funds.

The state auditor’s office mandated that Ted Jr. return $3.9 million while his father was ordered to pay $722, 299 that he received from the assistance program. Brett was initially asked to pay $225,950 before he pleaded guilty to his part in the state’s welfare scandal.

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is among those implicated in the larger scandal, as one of more than three dozen people named in a Mississippi Department of Human Services lawsuit that alleges misspending of $20 million of the state’s welfare money. In February, Favre’s lawyers filed a motion to have him dismissed from the suit.