Mississippi Swindle Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America

How America’s youngest state auditor uncovered the largest public corruption scandal in the history of the nation’s poorest state

“A must read” with all the thrills of a John Grisham novel — for fans of shocking true crime exposés like Black Edge and Bad Blood (Peter Schweizer, author of Secret Empires)

This riveting exposé details how a small team of auditors and investigators, led by the youngest State Auditor in the country, uncovered a brazen scheme where the powerful stole millions in welfare funds from the poor in a sprawling conspiracy that stretched from Mississippi to Malibu.

Well-connected donors, highly placed officials, and popular public figures diverted tens of millions of dollars from the federal government's TANF — temporary assistance for needy families — program until a Republican auditor, his small team of dedicated investigators, and a Democratic prosecutor joined forces to hold them accountable in the face of intense obstruction and harassment.

Peopled with unforgettable characters — from the perpetrators; to the impoverished citizens for whom the money was intended; to the investigators, prosecutors, and reporters who held them to account — Mississippi Swindle is a political and true crime drama that highlights larger crises while appealing to a broad nationwide audience.

Shad White is the state auditor of Mississippi. During his tenure, the auditor’s office has uncovered more waste, fraud, and abuse than at any other time in state history. He is also a prolific writer on fraud, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, and other publications. He is a certified fraud examiner and holds degrees from Harvard Law School; the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar; and the University of Mississippi. He lives with his wife and three children in Flowood, Mississippi. He serves as a captain in the Mississippi National Guard. This is his first book.

Contents 

Author’s Note
Introduction
1. “It’s one of the hardest, best jobs in state government”
2.The Wrestlers
3. The News
4. The Prosecutors
5. The Proof
6. “A nice woman”
7. The Welfare Game
8. The Peddlers
9. The Audit
10. The Gunslinger
11. The System
12. Alone
13. “What were they thinking?”
14. You will be getting paid regularly
15. “It’s not time to worry”
16. The Demands
17. The Governor
18. The Pleas
19. The White Whale
20. The Plan
21. “We will go after them all”
22. “Why did you do this?”
23. Strong-Arm
Conclusion
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes