Arizona’s Attorney General, Kris Mayes, announced that two people have been indicted for attempting to scam the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. Johnny Lee Bowers and Ashley Meredith Hewitt, also known as Ashley Hopkins, are facing charges of conspiracy, fraud, and forgery. They allegedly applied for ESA funds for 50 children, but 43 of those children didn’t even exist.
Bowers and Hewitt pretended to be the parents of these non-existent kids, submitting fake applications under their own names as well as invented “ghost” parents. Their scheme netted them about $110,000, which was meant for children’s education but instead funded their living expenses in Colorado. Now, it seems they are living in Utah.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Haleigh Farrelly, after an investigation by the Attorney General’s Special Investigations Section. While Bowers and Hewitt are innocent until proven guilty, the charges are serious, and the amount of forged documents in the case is substantial.
The indictment details are available online for those interested in reviewing the legal documents.