ESA Program Robbed By Arizona Department Of Education Employees

Three former employees of the Arizona Department of Education are accused of fraudulently receiving money from the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

The three former employees, Dolores Sweet, Dorrian Jones, and Jennifer Lopez, along with Jadakah Johnson, and Raymond Johnson, Jr. are accused of multiple felonies in connection with the theft of more than $600,000.

The fraud scheme happened between October 2021, under the leadership of former Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman,  and ended November 2023, under the leadership of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who hired a professional auditor to head up the program shortly after taking office.

Jadakah Johnson and Raymond Lamont Johnson, Jr. are the adult children of Sweet.

Members of the group approved the ESA applications for minor students, both real and fictitious (“ghost students”), and admitted them into the program by using false, forged or fraudulent documentation (i.e. fake birth certificates, and falsified special education evaluations). They then awarded those students’ accounts ESA funds, and approved expenses for reimbursement or funds for distribution on behalf of those students for their own benefit.

Attorney General Kris Mayes claimed that the Department of Education did not notify the Attorney General’s Office about the fraud. However, Horne said at a press conference that Mayes was lying.

“The Attorney General is not telling the truth when she states that the alleged criminal activities of former ADE employees did not raise flags in the department,” Horne stated. “In fact, the opposite is true. Our office did alert the Attorney General’s Office to concerns we discovered regarding Dorrian Jones and Jennifer Lopez. A credit union became suspicious of efforts of a third former employee, Delores Sweet, and they also reached out to the Attorney General’s Office. It is worth noting that these employees were hired under my Democrat predecessor whose oversight of the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program was lax. In fact, it was so loose that when I took office, I faced dozens of parents at State Board of Education meetings furious at me for placing more controls on expenses and spending requests.”

“Our discovery of the activities of the two former staffers is consistent with my determination to root out potential fraud and abuse,” claimed Horne. “When I took office in 2023, I hired a 19-year veteran of the Auditor General’s Office to oversee the financial structure of the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program. That person is now the director of that program. We also hired a full-time investigator with extensive law enforcement experience. In 2024 alone, we have referred seven instances of suspected fraud to the Attorney General’s Office and, despite her efforts to smear this department, we will continue to do so.”

“I have absolutely zero tolerance for criminal activity on the part of any employee, contractor or vendor. The unfortunate fact is that the Department is not alone in having been victimized by fraud. According to the Auditor General’s Financial Investigation Reports and Fraud Prevention Alerts website, over the past 30 years there have been multiple incidents of fraud committed against government entities, including various state agencies, law enforcement and many school districts,” concluded Horne.

Horne Calls Out Save Our Schools For Lying About ESA Purchases