Operation Counter Strike youth volunteers were recognized today by the @Dbacks for their work to help reduce youth access to tobacco in retail outlets by monitoring retailer compliance with Arizona’s tobacco & e-cigarettes laws. Thank you volunteers! tinyurl.com/yxwyrqu5
The #AZAg Counter Strike Program conducts approximately 2,000 inspections per year, with over 30,000 retail inspections performed since the program’s inception.
From July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018, the statewide failure rate dropped to 9.8%, the lowest annual failure rate ever recorded by the Attorney General’s Office.
So far in 2019, more than 580 inspections have been conducted, and the failure rate has increased to 15%.
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Congress is considering another $28 billion in CARES Act payroll support for the airlines. This is on top of the $60 billion provided earlier this year. Before Congress provides an additional bailout for the industry, I'm urging Congress to adopt new consumer protections. (1/)
I commend Congress’ efforts to avoid thousands of layoffs, but not all airlines are treating consumers fairly. AGs have received consumer complaints about airlines failing to provide refunds and not allowing timely redemption of vouchers or credits, among other complaints. (2/)
These actions are particularly offensive when an industry has received billions in relief payments and loans from taxpayers. This is why I'm co-leading a bipartisan coalition of 40 AGs urging Congress to adopt new customer protections before providing new airline bailouts. (3/)
More on Arizona's ballot harvesting case: azag.info/bhc
We are pleased SCOTUS will hear our case regarding AZ's restrictions on ballot harvesting and out-of-precinct voting. There is no higher priority for public officials than to maintain the integrity of elections.
We've filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against 2 debt collectors who allegedly called AZ consumers & made false claims & threats to convince them to pay debts that they have no authority to collect. Lawsuit alleges the defendants told consumers they were officers of the law, (1/3)
and that they must immediately respond or be subject to court action. Details: azag.info/OCC #DebtCollectors cannot pretend to be law enforcement & they cannot threaten to arrest you. Before you pay, listen to the warning signs & read through our checklist. (2/3)
This lawsuit is part of #OpCorruptCollector-- a nationwide crackdown on abusive debt collection. AZ & more than 50 law enforcement agencies partnered with @FTC to put a stop to these practices. But we need your help. If you spot a scam, report it: azag.info/complaint (3/3)
More than 1,000 former ITT Tech students in Arizona will collectively receive $7.8M in loan forgiveness from a settlement we reached with PEAKS Trust for their alleged predatory tactics used to manipulate students. (1/5)
PEAKS is accused of giving temporary credit to students that they knew, or should have known, the students wouldn't be able to repay. Many of the students were from low-income backgrounds and were left with the choice of enrolling in the high-interest PEAKS loans or... (2/5)
dropping out & losing any benefit of the credits they had earned because ITT's credits would not transfer to most schools. PEAKS has now agreed to forgo collection of the outstanding loans in Arizona & cease doing business, among other terms. (3/5)
Former charter school principal for defunct Bradley Academy sentenced to prison and ordered to pay over $2.5M for his role in helping enroll fake students. Examples below of fake driver's licenses created to support enrollment and fraudulent funding for hundreds of fake students.
The school abruptly shut its doors in Dec. 2017. It was later discovered 191 fake students were enrolled in 2016/17 and 453 fake students were enrolled in 2017/18. This resulted in over-payments of $2,216,366.91 by @azedschools, $91,356.75 by @usedgov, & $230,998.42 by @USDA.
Instead of finding innovative ways to provide better education for students, Harold Cadiz and others devised a scheme to bilk taxpayers out of more than $2 million dollars. It’s despicable because real Arizona students could have used these critical funds. azag.gov/press-release/…
𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃: Former Hacienda Healthcare CEO William Timmons & former CFO Joseph O’Malley for for an elaborate white collar fraud scheme. Hacienda will pay $11M to settle its case. Thank you to our AGO agents for bringing justice to Arizonans. More: bit.ly/32UknFe
Background: The indictment alleges that from 2013 until Timmons resigned in 2019, Timmons and O’Malley intentionally misallocated funds from @ArizonaDES and @AHCCCSgov by manipulating costs to avoid repayments of state funds in favor of inflated salaries and bonuses.
The @ArizonaDES contract was with Hacienda’s ICF only, but Timmons and O’Malley used the money to pay for a large portion of costs at Hacienda's other facilities and did not reimburse the State. This resulted in millions of dollars of over-payment by the State.