How America’s youngest state auditor uncovered the largest public fraud scandal in the history of the nation’s poorest state

“A must read” with all the thrills of a John Grisham novel — for fans of shocking true crime exposés like Black Edge and Bad Blood (Peter Schweizer, author of Secret Empires)

This riveting exposé details how a small team of auditors and investigators, led by the youngest State Auditor in the country, uncovered a brazen scheme where the powerful stole millions in welfare funds from the poor in a sprawling conspiracy that stretched from Mississippi to Malibu.

Well-connected donors, highly placed officials, and popular public figures, including Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, lined their own pockets with tens of millions of dollars diverted from the federal government's TANF — temporary assistance for needy families — program until a Republican auditor, his small team of dedicated investigators, and a Democratic prosecutor joined forces to hold them accountable in the face of intense obstruction and harassment.

Peopled with unforgettable characters — from the perpetrators; to the impoverished citizens for whom the money was intended; to the investigators, prosecutors, and reporters who held them to account — Mississippi Swindle is a true-to-life political and true crime drama.

An Amazon "Editors' Pick" and "Best Nonfiction Book of August 2024"

"White smoothly integrates esoteric accounting details into a narrative paced like a thriller ... gripping."

--Publishers Weekly

"Illuminating and disturbing ... White’s scrupulous attention to the details of this case is as admirable as his goal of demonstrating that some public servants can and will stand up to powerful forces bent on abusing their power."

--Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will be engrossed ... Fascinating."

--BookPage

"A gripping ... disturbing account ... White’s descriptions of greed and the abuse of power by special interest groups are bold, brave, and commanding [and] an engrossing look at political maneuvering behind the scenes ... Highlighting an astonishing fraud that misdirected welfare dollars in the poorest state in the country, Mississippi Swindle issues timely warnings to the rest of the nation." 

--Forward Reviews

"Mississippi’s state auditor Shad White names names in his fast-paced account of the plunder of $100 million in welfare funds by corrupt officials and their well-connected associates – including celebrity athletes. White also reveals a lack of cooperation and outright opposition to the investigation by prosecutors, legislators and other powerful figures that was almost as maddening as the theft itself.”
--Curtis Wilkie, author of The Fall of the House of Zeus

"A lot of people talk about corruption and fraud--but very few people do anything about it.  Shad White is one of those people who is taking action. And in this book he explains how he did it.  A must read."
--Peter Schweizer, author of the #1 New York Times best seller Secret Empires

“I first met Shad White when he was a Rhodes Scholar, and we sat in an ancient pub in Oxford, England and talked about our shared hopes for a better, more just Mississippi. I am not surprised he has dedicated himself to public service -- a chapter of which is contained between these covers."
--Wright Thompson, author of Pappyland