New York, NY: Steerforth Press | Random House (August 6, 2024)

First Edition. Signed.

New in dust jacket.

"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

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

"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

“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 diverted tens of millions of dollars 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 political and true crime drama that highlights larger crises while appealing to a broad nationwide audience.

Shad White is the state auditor of Mississippi. During his tenure, the auditor’s office has uncovered more waste, fraud, and abuse than at any other time in state history. He is also a prolific writer on fraud, and his work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, and other publications. He is a certified fraud examiner and holds degrees from Harvard Law School; the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar; and the University of Mississippi. He lives with his wife and three children in Flowood, Mississippi. He serves as a captain in the Mississippi National Guard. This is his first book.