The University of Mississippi’s athletic department has agreed to return funding it received from a businessman who has since been convicted of a massive Ponzi scheme.
According to the Bradenton Herald, Ole Miss has agreed to returned about $350,000 of the $400,000 its athletic foundation received from Arthur Lamar Adams. Adams has pleaded guilty to a $100 million Ponzi scheme.
As part of an effort to return money to those investors scammed by Adams, the school has now returned all of the money except about $52,000. For his “giving,” Adams received that much in "tangible benefits," including events tickets that he used.
Neither the university nor the foundation were involved in the scheme.
Bank records show other gifts, including $130,649 to R.B. Thieme Jr. Bible Ministries, $100,649 to Berachah Church, $56,350 to Century Club Charities Inc., $25,200 to American Freedom Assembly, $20,500 to Rick Hughes Ministries and $16,000 to Operation Grace World Mission.
