Tag: arizona

Man indicted for allegedly committing almost a quarter of all Arizona ACCCHS fraud

Multiple Arizona residents are among the more than 300 people charged in a nationwide “takedown” of health care schemes, including one accused of being responsible for billing the state for 22% of all AHCCCS “sober living” fraud. 

Farukh Jara Ali is accused of submitting about $650 million in “false and fraudulent claims” to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System and personally receiving $24.5 million as part of the alleged fraud.

Ali is the owner of a company called ProMD Solutions, which 12News has previously covered in connection with the AHCCCS “sober living” fraud scandal.

ProMD Solutions is listed as the statutory agent for multiple businesses accused of fraud. 

In 2023, a man identifying himself as Mark Stanley, a Vice President with the company, told 12News via Zoom that ProMD Solutions was a billing company that also provided turnkey solutions for behavioral health businesses. He denied any billing fraud on ProMD’s part. 

ProMD Solutions’ website lists an address in Irvine, CA. But a search of the address reveals it to be a strip mall with a third-party mailbox store. In reality, prosecutors say Ali was running the business from Pakistan. 

In court documents, prosecutors state that Ali had contracted with 38 purported healthcare providers to bill the state for $650 million, of which AHCCCS paid $564 million.

According to the indictment, other behavioral healthcare businesses began a scheme to offer bribes and kickbacks to sober living homes, allegedly offering higher amounts for patients who could use the American Indian Health Plan.

Native Americans were widely targeted by the sober living scheme.  In many cases, they were promised drug and alcohol rehab that they never received. 

The bribes were allegedly in exchange for sending the sober living residents to these behavioral health providers. Prosecutors allege Ali and the business owners conspired to falsify treatment notes to justify billing for services that were never rendered. 

According to the indictment, ProMD Solutions was the company responsible for doing the actual billing, with Ali taking 5% off the top. Prosecutors say he made just under $25 million. Prosecutors believe he bought a $3 million golf course home in Dubai using at least some of that money. 

Keep reading

Arizona Voters Will Decide on Designating Drug Cartels Terrorist Organizations

Arizona voters will decide in November on whether or not to designate drug cartels operating at the U.S. Southern border with Mexico as terrorists.

The vote will come after the Arizona state senate failed to pass a measure last year due to a slim Republican majority, per The Hill.

“Arizona is on the frontlines of a war that Washington ignored until President Trump took action. This resolution gives the Trump Administration another tool to defend our state, uphold the rule of law, and protect innocent lives,” state Rep. Steve Montenegro (R) said in a press release.

The resolution comes after the Trump administration added eight drug cartels to its list of terrorist organizations despite pushback from the Mexican government.

“Groups on the list are subject to financial sanctions, and their members cannot legally enter the United States. It is also illegal to give material support to a foreign terrorist organization,” noted The Hill.

“The Arizona ballot initiative would also direct the state Department of Homeland Security to ‘do everything within its authority to address the threat posed by drug cartels,’” it added.

Keep reading

Suspect confesses to crucifying pastor in Arizona home – and had others on hit list

In a chilling jailhouse interview, the man accused of a gruesome, religiously motivated murder of a beloved pastor in Arizona said he had committed the crime and revealed he had a broader hit list of religious leaders he intended to kill during his murderous rampage.

Adam Christopher Sheafe, 51, told True Crime Arizona Monday that he crucified 76-year-old Pastor William Schonemann, known in the community as “Pastor Bill,” inside his New River home in April.

Sheafe said the attack was part of what he claimed was a divine mission to punish religious leaders who, in his view, were misleading followers.

“I drove from there (Phoenix) to Bill’s house, like two in the morning on a Sunday night, and I executed him,” Sheafe told the correspondent Briana Whitney, who sat across the table from him.

Schonemann was found dead in his bed, covered in blood, on April 28 during a welfare check.

During the interview, Sheafe spoke about the disturbing scene, which included details about a crown of thorns, which he said he made from what he found in the woods, and placed on Schonemann’s head.

“Because what I’m saying is, what you’re preaching is not what God said,” Sheafe explained. “It’s the opposite of what God said.”

Sheafe revealed that Schonemann was not his only target. Prior to the murder, he said he had followed a priest home after Easter services in Phoenix with the intent to kill him — the first of 14 intended “executions” across the country.

“Starting in Arizona, where I was born,” Sheafe said. “Where it starts is where it ends, like the Garden of Eden.”

But he claimed to have stopped that first attempt when two women unexpectedly entered the priest’s garage.

“I’m not interested in executing anyone other than the pastors or the shepherds leading the flock astray,” he said.

After killing Schonemann, Sheafe said he traveled to Sedona, where he planned to murder two more religious leaders. He would later be identified as the suspect in a burglary which led to a high-speed chase with Sedona police.

Keep reading

Arizona gun shop at center of plot to assassinate Colombian presidential candidate

The gun used by a teenager to shoot a Colombian presidential candidate was ‘acquired’ through an Arizona gun shop, law enforcement source has revealed Monday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told El Tiempo newspaper that Juan Sebastían Rodríguez Casallas, 14, shot Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay with a 9mm Glock what was bought on August 6, 2020.

The source also said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was also able to confirm that the weapon has been purchased at AJI Sporting Goods in Mesa.

In addition, the law enforcement agent told the outlet that the ATF was able to identify the name of the purchase, Charles Joe Anderson.

‘It is a model of Austrian origin, unusual in actions of this type within the country, which has activated protocols to track its arrival in the hands of the hitman,’ the official said.

Colombian National Police director, General Carlos Triana, said during a press conference Monday also confirmed that the weapon was legally purchased in Arizona and said investigators were looking into how the gun made its way to Colombia.

An ATF spokesperson told DailyMail.com that it could not confirm or deny the report.

AJI Sporting Goods owner, Jeff Serdy, told DailyMail.com that he had not been contacted by federal officials from Colombia and the United States as of Monday.

Serdy confirmed that Anderson acquired the weapon via a ‘transfer’ and that his gun shop received a $30 fee. 

‘For the record all state and federal laws were very strictly followed during this transaction,’ Serdy said. 

The gun was purchased from another store, whose name Serdy was unable to share. 

A 2024 Colombian National Police report showed that at least 3,954 guns that seized were made in the United States. Another 805 were manufactured in Italy and 414 were made in Germany.

Video footage showed Senator Uribe Turbay, who is planning to run in the 2026 presidential elections, addressing a crowd of about 250 residents Saturday afternoon in Fontibon, a neighborhood in the Colombia capital city of Bogotá.

Rodríguez Casallas could be seen standing several feet away from Uribe Turbay, who was starting to make his point about how his administration would combat mental illness, when he shot the lawmaker in the back of the head and fired about five more shots.

A surveillance video showed the teen shooter racing out of the park and running down a street as Uribe Turbay’s bodyguards chased after him.

A second video showed Rodríguez Casallas hobbling towards a gated residential complex and then turning around to aim his gun at the guards.

Keep reading

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs VETOES Bill That Would Prevent China From Buying Land Near U.S. Military Bases

Arizona’s Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill that would prevent the Chinese Communist Party from buying land near strategic assets such as military bases. Whose side is this woman on?

It really seems like Democrats are hell bent on doing everything they can to weaken the United States and threaten our national security.

They can’t even agree that China shouldn’t be able to buy American land near our defense infrastructure? What the heck is going on here?

FOX News reports:

Dem governor ripped as ‘total disgrace’ after vetoing bill limiting Chinese land ownership near military bases

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is up for reelection next year, garnered backlash Tuesday after vetoing a bill aimed at preventing China from buying up land next to strategic assets, such as military bases.

Arizona state Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp said the “politically motivated veto” was “utterly insane,” blaming Hobbs for being “an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats.”

However, Hobbs said the bill, S.B. 1109, was “ineffective at counter-espionage” and did not “directly protect” American military assets in the state…

“Governor Hobbs’s veto of SB 1109 hangs an ‘Open for the CCP’ sign on Arizona’s front door, allowing Communist China to buy up American land near critical assets like Luke Air Force Base, Palo Verde nuclear power plant, and Taiwan Semiconductor’s growing fabrication footprint,” said Michael Lucci, the CEO and founder of State Armor Action, a conservative group with a mission to develop and enact state-level solutions to global security threats.

Is anyone going to look into this?

Keep reading

Army surveillance balloons spotted over Tucson raise privacy concerns from advocates

The U.S. Army and a private company are flying high-altitude surveillance balloons over the Tucson area, raising concerns among privacy advocates. 

Multiple high-altitude balloons have been spotted over the Tucson and Sierra Vista area for more than a week, with one balloon in particular staying over the area longer than any of the others. That balloon, with the registration number N257TH, has made headlines in the past. 

The balloon is owned by South Dakota aerospace company Aerostar, and in 2023 was mistaken for a Chinese spy balloon. The balloon is actually part of Aerostar’s “Thunderhead” balloon system, which has been doing multiple tests with the military and other contractors across the nation and around the globe. 

“It is a technology that should not and constitutionally cannot be applied to the American people,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Arizona Mirror. “Even testing for eventual overseas use in legitimate combat theaters raises a lot of questions about what kind of data is being collected.”

Aerostar would not answer specific questions about what type of testing was being done. The company referred additional questions to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army, neither of which responded to multiple requests for comment. 

Aerostar confirmed that the flights were not connected to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol or Department of Homeland Security programs, “however high-altitude balloons would be ideal for that type of mission,” Aerostar Culture and Communications Director Anastasia Quanbeck said in an email to the Mirror. 

“By leveraging directional wind patterns at high altitudes, Aerostar’s Thunderhead Balloon Systems offer groundbreaking capabilities for navigation and persistence over areas of interest,” she said. “Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon Systems are capable of supporting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, as well as extending communications across wide distances, environmental monitoring, earth observation, and scientific research.” 

Quanbeck said she was not able to discuss the work the company does with the DOD or the Army. 

Keep reading

Two Teenagers Found Shot Dead in Arizona National Forest

Sheriff’s officials in Arizona are investigating the deaths of two high school students found in a national forest outside Phoenix after they failed to return from a Memorial Day camping trip.

Both had died from gunshot wounds, according to KNXV-TV, which cited the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

And both were being mourned by their families and their school community.

Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, was described by her mother in a message to KNXV-TV as “a bright light in this world who loved every single person she met and had an unusual ability to make every person she met feel special and loved. She was a friend to many and a beloved daughter. She lived life in a big way and was always up for an adventure.”

The other teen has been identified by family and friends as 17-year-old Evan Clark.

In an interview with KSAZ-TV, a co-worker of Clark’s called the deaths a “tragedy.”

“You just cherish all the memories and the laughs,” the co-worker said.  “His life was cut very short, and so was Pandora’s. They were very young, and it was just so sudden and a tragedy that you wouldn’t even imagine.”

A classmate of Clark’s told the station “it doesn’t really feel real.”

“I was just in class with him, not even a week ago,” the classmate said.

Keep reading

22 More People, Entities Charged in Arizona Medicaid Fraud Scheme

An Arizona grand jury has indicted 22 individuals and entities linked to a massive Medicaid fraud scheme involving sober living homes.

The charges include money laundering, theft, conspiracy, fraudulent schemes, patient referral fraud, and forgery, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Tuesday.

These indictments are part of an ongoing investigation into a $2.7 billion fraud that exploited Arizona’s health care system, particularly targeting Native Americans seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

According to the charge document, the 20 individuals indicted are associated with a church and a mental health organization called Happy House Behavioral Health. Prosecutors allege that Happy House was paid over $60 million for services that were either never rendered or only partially completed. Some of the billing, they say, was for clients who were deceased or incarcerated.

Prosecutors also allege that sober living facilities referred clients to Happy House, which in turn received funds from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid agency. Happy House then allegedly paid the referring sober homes for those client placements, an arrangement at the center of the fraudulent scheme charges.

Keep reading

Mesa High School student barred from wearing military stole at graduation

A graduation controversy is unfolding at Arizona’s largest school district, Mesa Public Schools. School leaders won’t allow a senior at Mesa High School who is enlisted in the National Guard to wear a military stole at graduation on Thursday.

Daniela Rascon-Rivas earned the stole when she enlisted in the Arizona National Guard. “It would show my classmates that I am enlisted in the Army and that I am fighting for them, keeping our country safe from foreign and domestic enemies,” she says.

Rascon-Rivas says a Mesa High School administrator brought her down to the office last week to explain the district policy against wearing the stole at graduation. “I was disheartened. I was disappointed,” she says. “I felt betrayed.”

Mesa High sent Arizona’s Family a statement, reading in part, “Mesa High absolutely encourages families to bring their student’s stoles for photos and celebrations after the event.”

“I see no point in wearing it afterward,” Rascon-Rivas says. “The point of me wearing these stoles and cords is so that my classmates can see what I have accomplished and the accolades I have collected.”

Her father is also expressing disappointment. “When I got notice that she cannot wear the stole, that broke my heart,” says Jose Rascon.

Rascon-Rivas started a petition that’s gotten the attention of school board member Rachel Walden. “You get that one shot where you go up and grab your diploma and you do the handshake for the photo,” Walden says. “If she has her National Guard stole on, that’s going to make the night more meaningful for her. I think there’s no reason she shouldn’t be able to do that.”

Walden thinks the superintendent should step in and order the school administration to allow the military stoles on Thursday. “If they have to pull rank, then that’s what needs to be done,” she says. “Then we can address it permanently going forward by writing it into policy, if my colleagues on the board agree with that, we can pass a vote to update our policy.”

Keep reading

Far Left Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs Vetoes Bill Requiring Public Schools to Include Instruction on the Gulf of America

Democrat Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a Republican bill on Tuesday that would require public high schools to adhere to President Trump’s “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” executive order by including geography and instruction on the Gulf of America.

HB 2700 would add geography education in the State Board of Education’s high school social studies academic standards and require academic standards for geography to include instruction on the Gulf of America.

The far-left Democrat Governor doesn’t want students to have a comprehensive education on geography and current events, though.

Hobbs provided no reason for her veto in a letter to Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro, but did take a personal jab at Republicans in the state legislature for what she perceives as a refusal to “work together.”

Hobbs sent the following letter to Montenegro on Tuesday:

Speaker Montenegro,

Today, I vetoed House Bill 2700. Arizonans want us to work together to lower costs, secure the border, create jobs, and protect publie education. Instead of joining with me to do that, this Legislature has chosen to attempt to dictate how teachers refer to geographic features. I encourage you to refocus your time and energy on solving real problems for Arizonans.

In total, Hobbs reportedly vetoed 48 bills on Monday and Tuesday, and she is now five vetoes short of setting a new record.

It can be recalled that Hobbs broke the record for the most bills vetoed in a single session of the state legislature during her first year in office in 2023. Leftwing outlets dubbed her the “Veto Queen,” celebrating her stand against Republicans who represent a majority of Arizona. This is her only accomplishment as governor.

Keep reading