Brett Favre missed deadline for $228,000 interest payment to Mississippi in welfare case
Hall of Famer Brett Favre missed a deadline on Tuesday to repay the interest he owes the state of Mississippi after he accepted improper welfare funds in 2020, according to The Associated Press.
Mississippi state auditor Shad White addressed the missed payment on Twitter on Tuesday, but did not call out Favre by name. White said that he has been in contact with the state attorney general’s office and an attorney.
They are in charge of enforcing the demands. My team has now forwarded the unpaid demands to the AG’s office. My understanding is the AG and the Department of Human Services have given authority to a private attorney to recoup the misspent money.
— Shad White (@shadwhite) November 16, 2021
Favre did not respond to White on Twitter and did not return a phone call from The Associated Press. He is not facing criminal charges in the massive embezzlement case, though he will now likely face a civil lawsuit from the state.
Favre, state auditor feud on Twitter over welfare funds
Favre was named in a Mississippi audit in 2020 after he accepted $1.1 million from the federal government’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. That mistake was part of a more than $94 million embezzlement scandal of improperly spent federal money in the state.
Favre was paid to make several appearances at events, though it’s unclear how this would have helped residents in one of the poorest states in the country.
The longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback initially said that he made the appearances, but that he didn’t know where the money had come from and repaid $500,000 of it. He said he would return the remaining $600,000 in installments, though that didn’t happen until last month after the state threatened him with a lawsuit. The state also demanded $228,000 in interest.
Favre and White got into an argument over the issue on Twitter last month, where Favre claimed that he was never paid for “no-show events.” White called Favre's response “lies,” and said that he specifically was paid for three speaking engagements, a radio interview and a keynote speaking engagement. White also said that one of Favre’s accountants confirmed this to him and that Favre himself said he never made these appearances.
“You did not give the speeches,” White tweeted to Favre. “You have acknowledged this in statements to my agents.
“To suggest my office has not met with you is a lie as well. You have met with agents who work for me. They showed you the contract. They showed you the emails confirming the contract quoted above is how you were paid.”