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☆ The company accused of employing dozens of minors in slaughterhouses on the graveyard shift reaches agreement with the feds
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laura Strickler | Julianne Mcshane | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

An industrial cleaning company accused by federal investigators of hiring dozens of children to clean slaughterhouses during the graveyard shift has resolved the allegations with the U.S. Department of Labor, according to a federal court filing filed Tuesday morning. The company will also provide a new child labor provision in its contracts with clients and will notify the Labor Department as to how many employees it terminated as a result of its compliance with child labor laws. Allegations of child labor at a slaughterhouse in Grand Island, Nebraska, date back to 2016, according to a previously unreported local police report obtained by NBC News. At least three chiildren suffered chemical burns as a result of working in the slaughterhouses, according to that complaint. The Department of Labor’s Child Labor Regulations designates many roles in slaughterhouse and meatpacking facilities as hazardous for minors.

☆ Executives at ‘fintechs’ made hundreds of millions handing out PPP Covid cash, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The report says Reis is not Black or a veteran. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis$80 billion in fraudIt’s well known that the $800 billion PPP program was plagued by fraud, with some fraud estimates as high as $80 billion. In a text message obtained by the committee, Reis commented on his company’s success, noting it made nearly $1.5 billion in less than six months processing PPP loans. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus CrisisThe report cited a text message in which Kristen Spencer described the anticipated windfall from processing PPP loans. In July 2021, two months after the last PPP loans went out the door, the Spencers bought an $8 million, 10,975-square-foot mansion, according to local property records.

☆ Brett Favre files motion to dismiss lawsuit in Mississippi welfare fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Laura Strickler | Laura Strickler Is A Washington-Based Investigative Reporter With The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Attorneys for former NFL star Brett Favre filed court papers in Mississippi on Monday seeking to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him tied to a state welfare fraud scandal. Favre was sued in May by the state welfare agency after he received $1.1 million in federal welfare funds intended to lift children out of poverty in the poorest state in America. Favre’s attorneys say that he and his organization, Favre Enterprises LLC, repaid the funds and that Mississippi officials are to blame for the misspending. "Mr. Favre never had any control over how Mississippi spent its welfare funds. Six people have been charged in what state and federal officials call a massive fraud scheme to misspend state welfare funds, including the former director of the state welfare agency, who is cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors.

☆ Brett Favre helped an experimental drug maker get $2M in welfare money. Experts doubt the drug can work.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

And he did more than evangelize, court records show — he successfully lobbied Mississippi state officials who granted the company $2.1 million in federal welfare money that was intended to help poor families. The payment was illegal, state officials allege in a lawsuit — part of a huge Mississippi welfare misspending scandal that has tarnished Favre’s reputation. Favre, who is being sued by Mississippi, has consistently said that he did not know the money he was seeking from the Mississippi Department of Human Services—the state welfare agency—was welfare money. Six people have been charged in what state and federal officials call a massive fraud scheme, including the former director of the state welfare agency, who is cooperating with the FBI and federal prosecutors. Favre is among 38 defendants in a civil lawsuit by the state seeking to recoup the welfare money, including the funds devoted to the volleyball facility and the unproven concussion drug.

A California couple who fled the country after being convicted in a multimillion-dollar Covid relief scam have been extradited from Montenegro, the Justice Department said Friday. They are expected to appear at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. They were among eight members of a California crime ring convicted of stealing more than $18 million in Covid relief loans. Following their conviction in June 2021, the couple cut off their ankle monitoring bracelets and fled their home, leaving behind their three children. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the couple’s extradition, but the Justice Department said in a press release that the government of Montenegro provided significant assistance.

Prosecutors with the 18th Judicial District and DEA agents seized 114 pounds of pure fentanyl in Colorado. A spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, which made the initial discovery of the fentanyl, provided a blunt account of the botched operation. But after this story was published, a DEA official confirmed the seizure of 114 pounds of fentanyl. "DEA is relentlessly pursuing the individuals that were involved in the trafficking of the seized fentanyl and will continue to do so." “We’ve got a record amount of fentanyl involved here, in fact, enough fentanyl to kill everyone in the state of Colorado,” Figliuzzi said.

☆ Brett Favre told Mississippi governor he would not ‘take No for answer’ over volleyball stadium, court filing shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Phil Bryant on Sept. 4, 2019 about funding the volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi’s main campus in Hattiesburg. “Use of these funds (is) tightly controlled,” Bryant texted Favre on July 28, 2019, according to the filing. Favre also secured $3.2 million for a drug company in which he had invested, according to court records. Favre has also denied wrongdoing through his lawyer, who acknowledged that the ex-Packer has been interviewed by the FBI. He added that Favre behaved honorably and never knew the state grants he was seeking were from the federal welfare program.

The welfare funds in question were part of the $86 million Mississippi is given each year by the federal government to lift families out of poverty. The state auditor uncovered $77 million in misspent welfare funds in February 2020. The text messages, which were part of a filing by New's attorney, do not establish that Favre knew the public funds discussed were welfare money. The newly released text messages indicate Bryant, a Republican, was much more involved in the project as governor than previously known. She would pay Favre $1.1 million in state funds directly and he would do a few radio ads.

The Mississippi state auditor said Favre never gave the speeches and demanded the money back, with interest. In an interview with the website Mississippi Today, Bryant said he never knew the grants came from welfare money. The former head of the state welfare agency, John Davis, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of bribery and conspiracy, and law enforcement officials say the investigations continue. Favre defended himself in a series of tweets last year against allegations from White, the state auditor, that he accepted state money for speeches he never intended to give. Marcus Dupree, a former college football star, also received $370,000 in welfare funds, which prosecutors say partly went to fund his horse ranch.

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