Tom Horne, the Arizona State Superintendent of Education, reportedly stated Monday that the alleged abuse of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) system by two Colorado residents was first flagged by his office, which reported it to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for possible criminal prosecution.
Mayes announced on Monday that a grand jury indicted Johnny Bowers and Ashley Hewitt with filing fraudulent applications for 50 students to receive scholarships that help families send students to a school of their choice.
According to the state attorney general’s press release, Bowers and Hewitt submitted applications for 50 students. Of these students, 43 do not exist and were filed on behalf of fictitious “ghost” parents.
“In total, the defendants received about $110,000 from the ESA Program and used the money for their own personal living expenses in Colorado,” according to Mayes’ office. Despite the alleged criminality occurring in Colorado, the attorney general further stated that Hewitt and Bowers relocated to Utah.
The 22-page indictment returned against Hewitt and Bowers contains 60 charges, including one for conspiracy, another for obtaining more than $100,000 from a fraudulent scheme, and 57 counts of forgery.
After the criminal indictment was announced, Horne stated to Fox 10 Phoenix that his office initially discovered the alleged pattern of fraud.
“The Department of Education submitted this matter to the Attorney General‘s office and submitted all the other matters currently under criminal investigation, except one, which was discovered by a credit union,” Horne told the outlet.
Citing his experience as Arizona Attorney General from 2011 to 2015, Horne said he remains “determined as Superintendent to eliminate any fraud within the ESA program” and highlighted his previous decision to hire an auditor and an investigator to manage and oversee the ESA program.
“Those two positions had not existed under my predecessor,” Horne stated. “I am pleased that prosecutions are following in the cases we sent to The Attorney General’s office.”
Horne has repeatedly warned the ESA program was mismanaged under his Democratic predecessor, Kathy Hoffman, who reportedly left a backlog of ESA applications waiting for the Republican when he assumed office.
After Governor Katie Hobbs demanded more oversight over the school choice program, Horne said that his office “already reviews all expense requests regardless of amount, unlike the previous superintendent who approved many frivolous requests.”
Horne and Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature have vowed to protect the school choice program despite Hobbs’ concerns.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
