Ted DiBiase Jr., a Former WWE Wrestler, Has Been Indicted for Welfare Fraud

A decade after leaving the WWE, wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. is in some major trouble with the law. The news that Ted has been indicted comes as part of a sprawling investigation into welfare fraud in Mississippi — a case that also involves former NFL quarterback Brett Favre.

Following the news that Ted had been charged, many wanted to know what he had been doing since leaving pro wrestling behind in 2013. Unfortunately, if these charges are true, the answer is not great.

Before being charged, Ted had been largely out of the spotlight. He retired from the WWE in 2013, and in the years immediately after that, he made a few appearances on the independent wrestling circuit. Those appearances ended around 2017, and since then, he's kept busy mostly with speaking engagements and running a business that was allegedly being given welfare funds without providing any services.

Ted Jr. has been charged with taking funds as part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and pocketing it. According to reporting in The Associated Press, Ted's father, himself a former wrestler who was known as the "Million Dollar Man," received $1.7 million in welfare money through his business Heart of David Ministries. The funds were paid in exchange for "leadership training," which never occurred.

An additional $250,000 was paid for motivational speaking engagements, and Ted Sr. was ordered to pay back $722,000, even as he's continued to deny the allegations.

Ted Jr., meanwhile, allegedly received over $3 million in anti-poverty funds to conduct leadership training through Priceless Ventures and to support inner-city youth through Familiae Orientem, but those services were apparently never rendered.

In September of last year, John Davis, the head of Mississippi Department of Human Services, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, theft and fraud, and agreed to offer his testimony about other people involved in the fraud. John also reportedly gave Ted Jr. the title of director of sustainable change for the Mississippi Department of Human Services, even though Ted Jr. was not employed by the state.

The DiBiase family are not the only famous athletes to get caught up in this welfare fraud case. Indeed, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is also accused of getting paid $1.1 million by the Mississippi Department of Human Services through the Mississippi Education Center in exchange for speaking engagements that the former NFL player never actually completed.

Following the scandal, many were also curious what Ted Jr.'s net worth might be. In spite of his alleged participation in these fraud schemes, Ted Jr.'s net worth is estimated to be just $4 million, in part because he wasn't paid all that well during his time in the WWE.