WWE News: Hall Of Famer’s Nonprofit Ministry Reportedly Received Millions In Welfare Money

A WWE Hall of Famer is dealing with some serious legal trouble after recent claims surfaced alleging that his nonprofit ministry has received millions in welfare money. The “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase’s Heart of David ministry is being accused of receiving $2.1 million in welfare money from the state of Mississippi. This news comes just one week after Ted’s son, Brett, was accused of embezzling more than $4.15 million from public welfare coffers.

The Heart of David ministry was founded by Ted DiBiase two decades ago and ostensibly serves to help the less fortunate through a Christian lens.

According to The Clarion Ledger, by way of Wrestling Inc., the Heart of David ministry is a nonprofit organization that has held very little in terms of funds for quite some time. Three months prior to the hiring of Brett DiBiase as the deputy administrator at the Mississippi Department of Human Services, there was reportedly very little in the ministry’s accounts.

Upon his hiring, ministry funds purportedly continued to go increase. Payments began coming into the ministry in May of 2017, and continued through parts of the 2020 fiscal year. The ministry allegedly received nearly $900,000 from the state of Mississippi one particular year.

The New York Times reported that John Davis — a man involved both with Brett DiBiase and a larger embezzlement case — retired from the Department of Human Services in 2019. Some of the $4.15 million was used to pay for Brett DiBiase to enter drug rehab.

DiBiase is one of six people who were charged in what New York Times writer Neil Vigdor calls the “largest embezzlement scheme that the office had seen in at least 20 years.” According to state auditor, Brett DiBiase was being paid from money meant for Mississippi’s welfare program in order to conduct drug awareness programs. However, as the auditors claim, Brett DiBiase allegedly never taught any such classes, being treated for opioid addiction at a California rehab facility.

Mississippi state auditor Shad White said that the investigation was eight months long and looked into the seeming misappropriation of funds from the welfare agency.

“The funds that were illegally obtained in this case were intended to help the poorest among us. The funds were instead taken by a group of influential people for their own benefit, and the scheme is massive. It ends today.”

Ted DiBiase was elected into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2010 and still appears in company programming sporadically, but now faces new challenges. Exact details of what charges could be brought against Ted have not yet been revealed, but this case is far from over.