Arizona ESA parent charged with submitting forged receipts for musical instruments

The father of a child enrolled in Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account, or ESA, program was indicted on charges of submitting falsified documents, authorities announced Monday.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said Shawn Hantke, 55, submitted three forged receipts for musical instruments to the Arizona Department of Education between December 2024 and August 2025.

He was reimbursed more than $4,000, but the receipts showed discrepancies between the order and shipping dates, prosecutors said.

On Sept. 23, a grand jury indicted Hantke on one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices, a Class 2 felony, and three counts of forgery, a Class 4 felony.

The receipts were for purchases made from Guitar Center, including two acoustic guitars worth just under $3,000 combined. The indictment did not list a value or item for the third receipt.

Arizona ESA program has been criticized for lack of oversight

Arizona’s ESA program allows families who don’t send their children to public schools to receive taxpayer education funds to pay for private school and homeschooling expenses.

Earlier this year, a new app called Pathfinder was launched to show families whether items are permitted under the ESA program’s guidelines. Musical instruments are typically permitted purchases.

The state’s school voucher system has been criticized for lacking oversight and potentially issuing payments for unallowable and fraudulent purchases.

More than 108,000 students are currently enrolled in the program.

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