PHOENIX — Two people from out of state have been indicted for allegedly defrauding the Arizona school voucher program of more than $100,000, authorities announced Monday.
Johnny Lee Bowers and Ashley Meredith Hewitt, aka Ashley Hopkins, are accused of submitting Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) applications for 50 children, 43 of whom do not exist, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
The applications were made with fraudulent documents such as birth certificates, utility bills and lease agreements. Bowers and Hewitt allegedly submitted them under their own names as well as under the names of made-up “ghost” parents, prosecutors said.
Bowers and Hewitt were indicted last month on one count each of conspiracy and fraudulent schemes/artifices and 60 counts of forgery.
Prosecutors said the pair received about $110,000 from the ESA program and spent it on personal living expenses in Colorado. They now apparently live in Utah, the AG’s Office said.
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