Florida man accused of swiping thousands from Arizona school voucher program

PHOENIX – A Florida man faces multiple felony charges for allegedly defrauding Arizona’s school voucher program out of thousands of dollars, authorities announced Thursday.

A grand jury indicted Adam Renae Jones on one count of theft and five counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Per the Aug. 4 indictment, Jones is accused of fraudulently obtaining control of between $4,000 and $25,000 in Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) funds.

He allegedly stole the money by submitting ESA applications for fictitious children between 2022 and 2024, prosecutors said.

Arizona officials at odds over school voucher fraud

ESA fraud has been a hot topic in Arizona, with state officials pointing fingers about where the blame lies.

In one recent high-profile case, two people from out of state pleaded guilty to defrauding the publicly funded school voucher program of more than $110,000.

Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, has accused Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne of enabling the misuse of ESA funds with a policy that automatically approves any purchase under $2,000.

Horne has defended the risk-based policy, saying audits done later can uncover fraud.

“We have collected or are in the process of collecting over $600,000 of improper purchases,” Horne told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show last month.

He also laid blame on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for failing to fund additional auditing staff.

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