Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has committed to pay back more than a million dollars in welfare money he received for multiple speeches he did not actually make and has already given the Mississippi state auditor $500,000.
Favre, who received $1.1 million as part of a broader embezzlement scheme that was uncovered by a Mississippi Department of Human Services audit, will repay the remaining $600,000 in installments over the next few months. The Human Services audit showed the former superstar had been paid by Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit group whose former director John Davis has been indicted in a $4 million embezzlement scheme that took funding from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF).
“I want to applaud Mr. Favre for his good faith effort to make this right and make the taxpayers and TANF families whole,” auditor Shad White said in a statement. “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.”
Favre, who is not facing criminal charges, said he didn’t know the $1.1 million came from a welfare fund in a Facebook post.
“I have never received monies for obligations I didn’t meet,” Favre wrote. “To reiterate Auditors White’s statement, I was unaware that the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose, and because of that I am refunding the full amount back to the state of Mississippi … I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”
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