WWE Hall of Famer “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase was charged Thursday with multiple felonies stemming from a welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi, according to Ken Dilanian of NBC News.
Per Erica Hunzinger of the Associated Press, DiBiase is part of the same scandal that involved Green Bay Packers legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.
Hunzinger reported last year that millions of dollars meant to be spent on needy families in the state of Mississippi were allegedly misappropriated.
DiBiase, along with his sons Ted Jr. and Brett—also former pro wrestlers—allegedly received millions of dollars through their businesses in exchange for services that were not provided.
The elder DiBiase’s Heart of David Ministries allegedly received $1.7 million in welfare money in exchange for providing “leadership training,” which never occurred, plus $250,000 through DiBiase Development Inc. for motivational speaking engagements. DiBiase was ordered to repay $722,000 as part of a civil lawsuit.
DiBiase denied the allegations and asked for the civil suit to be dismissed.
Favre was allegedly paid $1.1 million by the Mississippi Department of Human Services through the Mississippi Education Center in exchange for speaking engagements that Favre did not complete.
It was reported that Favre planned to put the money toward a new $5 million volleyball facility at Southern Mississippi University, which is where his daughter played volleyball.
Favre reportedly paid the money back, but there was still $228,000 in outstanding interest as of October 2022.
John Davis, who was the head of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, theft and fraud in September 2022 and agreed to testify against other people involved.
Davis reportedly also gave Ted DiBiase Jr. the title of director of sustainable change for the Mississippi Department of Human Services despite DiBiase not being employed by the state.
The 69-year-old DiBiase Sr. is a world-famous pro wrestler who broke into the business in 1974 before hitting it big when he signed with WWE in 1987.
DiBiase was given the “Million Dollar Man” character, and he played it perfectly, which led to him becoming one of the biggest heels in wrestling history.
While DiBiase once tried to buy the WWE Championship, he never actually held the title, which led to him creating his own Million Dollar Championship.
DiBiase was an active wrestler in WWE until 1993, and he later served in several different roles for the company, including manager, commentator, producer and road agent.
As of earlier this year, DiBiase was still making sporadic appearances on WWE programming as a WWE legend.
