Hall of Fame and former Jets quarterback Brett Favre allegedly earned $1.1 million from the state of Mississippi for appearances he never made as part of a much larger welfare fraud scheme, according to a state audit.
The audit alleges that the Mississippi Department of Human Services spent over $94 million in welfare money on inappropriate expenditures such as Favre’s “appearances,” cars, sponsoring baseball tournaments and hiring family members by funneling federal welfare grant funds into two non-profits. Those two organizations then spent the money.
The Mississippi Community Education Center, one of the two non-profits at the heart the scandal, reportedly paid Favre Enterprises $500,000 in December 2017 and $600,000 in June 2018 for appearances, promotions, autographs and speaking engagements. The audit concluded Favre “did not speak nor was he present for those events.”
Favre, who grew up in Mississippi and played football at Southern Miss, has not commented on the allegations and isn’t facing criminal charges.