MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A fraudulent prophetess who scammed a state government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which was designed to feed poor hungry children, should have been able to foresee the state authorities bearing down on her to shut down her counterfeit nonprofit organization and haul her to jail.
Prophetess Jeanette Jives-Nealy operated the Kingdom Dominion Worldwide Ministries, Inc., which was ostensibly an organization that was supplying food to feed hungry children in her community. As part of the Summer Food Service Program, the alleged prophetess received more than $160,000 in state funds for the project. But when the Tennessee Department of Human Services decided to conduct a surprise audit on the program, officials discovered that Jives-Nealy had flagrantly misappropriated the funds. Jives-Nealy diverted the money from the hungry kids and spent tens of thousands of dollars on retail items and travel while depositing $25,000 into a savings account.
Jives-Nealy, 47, and her finances were the target of a full-fledged investigation by the by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agents, which they found Nealy was the individual responsible for the missing funds, according to the release.
The Florida Department of Corrections Tampa Circuit Office arrested Nealy without incident in Tampa, Fla., where she currently resides. Why she was living in Tampa when she was supposed to be feeding impoverished and disenfranchised children in Memphis is also being discussed.
Officials say Nealy was booked into the Hillsborough County, Florida Jail, where at the time of the release she was being held without bail, awaiting extradition to Shelby County, Tennessee.