JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Governor Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) has signed State Auditor Shad White’s bill that requires Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) investigators to report any fraud at MDHS to the State Auditor’s office.
Senate Bill 2338 requires the fraud investigation unit at MDHS to report “to the Office of the State Auditor . . . any suspected civil or criminal violations relating to program fraud, embezzlement or related crimes.”
This comes after both Nancy and Zach New, who fraudulently handled millions of Mississippi welfare dollars from DHS in the largest public fraud in state history, pled guilty in court.
“The Legislature and Governor Reeves knew this was a common-sense idea,” said White. “I want to thank Gov. Reeves and legislative leadership, along with Senator Brice Wiggins and Representative Angela Cockerham, who handled the bill. Their hard work ensures that the State Auditor’s office can continue to stop misuse of taxpayers’ money, as we did in the case of the News.”