News 4 Jacksonville’s Scott Johnson recently caught up with several wrestling legends at River City Comic Con.
Johnson had a chance to ask WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase about the investigation into his family. DiBiase’s ministry is accused of taking more than $2.1 million in welfare funds from the state of Mississippi in the state’s largest public embezzlement case in its history.
In 2022, the Mississippi Department of Human Services sued DiBiase, his sons, retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre, and several others in an attempt to recover more than $20 million that they allegedly squandered.
In April 2023, Ted DiBiase Jr. was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to “commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering.” He faces a maximum of five years in prison for the conspiracy count, a maximum of 20 years for each wire fraud count and a maximum of 10 years for each theft count in regards to federal funds allegedly received and for each money laundering count.
DiBiase, Sr. has been largely silent about the case but he did tell Johnson that he believes that his family is being scapegoated because of their fame.
“We’re doing good,” DiBiase, Sr. said. “All of that, it is a bunch of garbage. I’m not at liberty to talk about it but it’s kind of like they’re looking for a scapegoat and we’re caught in the middle of it. If I didn’t have a celebrity name, they wouldn’t be looking at me.”
Click below to hear DiBiase, Sr’s comments in full.
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