Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to visit Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday, with stops including a Casa Grande appearance alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06). The tentative itinerary, provided exclusively to AZ Free News by Treasury Department officials, also includes meetings with manufacturers, business leaders, and community bankers.
Bessent is scheduled to travel to the state on August 5 and 6 to discuss the Trump administration’s economic agenda and efforts to strengthen the integrity of the nation’s financial system, Treasury officials said.
The visit will include a tour of a manufacturing facility in Casa Grande with Johnson and Ciscomani. The three officials are also expected to participate in an economic roundtable with Arizona business leaders.
The Treasury Department had not yet publicly identified the manufacturing facility as of Monday night.
The administration plans to use the event to highlight the effects of the tax and business provisions it refers to as the Working Families Tax Cuts, including incentives for domestic manufacturing and capital investment.
The tax provisions were enacted as part of Public Law 119-21, which President Donald Trump signed on July 4, 2025. The law permanently extended several provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and created temporary federal income-tax deductions for qualified tips and overtime compensation.
The law also allows businesses to immediately deduct qualifying research and development costs and the cost of certain equipment and machinery. It provides accelerated deductions for qualifying investments in new and expanded manufacturing facilities, according to a White House summary.
Arizona Republican lawmakers and Governor Hobbs reached a bipartisan budget agreement in June that eliminated state income taxes on qualified tips and overtime, increased the standard deduction, and added other tax provisions tied to the federal law. Republican legislative leaders described Arizona as the only state to fully adopt the federal tax package at the state level.
🚨FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Arizona Becomes Only State in the Nation to Deliver Historic Trump Tax Cuts As Part of Bipartisan FY 2027 Budget Agreement
The White House, citing a National Association of Manufacturers analysis, said the law’s manufacturing provisions sustained an estimated 119,000 Arizona jobs, $22 billion in state economic output, and $11 billion in wages.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the law would increase federal deficits by approximately $3.4 trillion from 2025 through 2034, excluding macroeconomic and debt-service effects. The CBO attributed the increase to an estimated $4.5 trillion reduction in revenues, partially offset by a $1.1 trillion reduction in direct spending.
During a separate engagement, Bessent is expected to meet with community bankers from across Arizona alongside Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould.
Bessent and Gould reportedly plan to discuss the administration’s efforts to reduce regulatory burdens on community banks and expand their ability to finance local businesses and economic development.
Reducing regulatory and supervisory burdens on community banks has been one of Gould’s stated priorities. The agency said in May that it had begun tailoring examinations according to a bank’s size, complexity, and risk profile, while giving smaller institutions greater flexibility to use a simplified capital framework.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has also revised its model-risk guidance and narrowed the scope of information-technology and cybersecurity examinations for community banks, according to an agency announcement.
“Community banks are anchors of local economies, providing essential banking services and small business lending that helps power job creation,” Gould said in the announcement.
The Arizona meeting is also expected to address the administration’s campaign against fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and other illicit activity involving the financial system.
Trump issued an executive order in May directing Treasury and federal banking regulators to strengthen customer-identification requirements and consider changes to regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act.
The order directed Treasury and federal financial regulators to propose stronger risk-based customer due-diligence requirements and consider changes to customer-identification rules. It instructed regulators to examine the use of foreign consular identification documents, invalid or mismatched Social Security and taxpayer-identification numbers, payroll-tax schemes, and accounts associated with workers who lack employment authorization.
It also directed financial regulators to consider whether banks should obtain additional information concerning immigration status and employment authorization when those details are relevant to fraud, identity misrepresentation, sanctions evasion, or another identified financial risk.
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN ) subsequently issued a June 5 advisory urging banks and other financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity associated with identity theft, payroll fraud, and the unlawful employment of people without work authorization.
FinCEN said some employers conceal unauthorized workers by using stolen identities, mismatched Social Security numbers, false payroll information, or off-the-books payment arrangements. The agency reported that financial institutions filed suspicious activity reports involving more than $2.5 billion in transactions associated with potential payroll-tax fraud during 2025.
The advisory was issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, OCC, and the National Credit Union Administration, and in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service.
The Treasury Department said Bessent and Gould will discuss how Arizona community banks can support the administration’s enforcement efforts while continuing to provide financing and banking services to local businesses.
Additional details regarding the facility, participating business leaders, event times, and press access are expected later on Tuesday.
Arizona House Republicans are calling on Gov. Katie Hobbs to pursue a federal data-sharing agreement intended to help investigators identify Medicaid and other public-benefit fraud by finding connections between government benefit payments and complex business records.
House Majority Leader Michael Carbone (R-LD25) and House Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Selina Bliss (R-LD1) issued the request Monday following the Justice Department’s announcement of new cooperation agreements with several southeastern states.
✅House Republicans Call on Governor Hobbs to Join Federal Anti-Fraud Data-Sharing Partnership Six states have already agreed to help federal investigators uncover fraud
“Arizona families work hard and pay their taxes, and they have every right to expect that not one dollar of… pic.twitter.com/y0L8vKPchx
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) August 3, 2026
The Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division announced the agreements July 30 as part of a wider federal-state initiative involving Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
Secretaries of state from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina entered data-sharing agreements giving the division access to publicly available corporate-registration and public-benefit payment information held by their agencies. State treasurers from Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina also joined the agreements.
Federal investigators plan to use the data to identify patterns connecting business entities with public-benefit payments and trace financial activity through shell companies, layered business structures, and related entities. The department encouraged other states to pursue similar partnerships.
“Arizona families work hard and pay their taxes, and they have every right to expect that not one dollar of their money ends up in the pocket of a fraudster,” Carbone said. “Six states have already signed up to help catch the criminals stealing from taxpayers and from the people these programs are supposed to serve. There is no good reason Arizona should not be next, and no good reason for Governor Hobbs to wait.”
“Arizona’s most vulnerable families should not pay the price for fraud and inaction,” he added. “Arizona taxpayers have already lost billions of dollars, and the Justice Department has given states a practical way to identify suspicious payments and business connections earlier. Governor Hobbs should begin the process today.”
Carbone proposed that Arizona begin with a two- or three-year memorandum of understanding that would preserve state control over the information and allow officials to evaluate the partnership’s results.
“Every dollar siphoned off by fraudsters is a dollar that does not reach an Arizona family who needs it,” Bliss said. “We have seen billions lost to sober living scams and phantom behavioral health clinics right here in our state, and Arizona has been named one of the riskiest states in the country for this kind of abuse.”
The Republican lawmakers did not specify which Arizona agencies would enter the agreement or which categories of public-benefit information would be shared.
Unlike the participating states, Arizona’s Secretary of State’s Office does not register corporations or limited liability companies. Those records are maintained by the independently elected Arizona Corporation Commission, while public-benefit payment information is held by executive agencies including AHCCCS and the Department of Economic Security.
The request comes as Hobbs remains under investigation over allegations involving Sunshine Residential Homes, a Department of Child Safety (DCS) contractor. Sunshine donated $300,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party and $100,000 to Hobbs’ inaugural fund before DCS approved a 30% rate increase, though no other group homes received rate increases and over a dozen contracts were terminated.
Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office has sought an interview with Hobbs as part of its ongoing criminal investigation, while the Arizona House has retained outside counsel to conduct a separate inquiry. Hobbs has denied wrongdoing and maintained that she did not influence the contracting decision. As of July 30, no date had been set for her interview with investigators. KJZZ reported that Mayes expects to make an announcement regarding the investigation before the November 3 election.
The Justice Department established a West Coast Health Care Fraud Strike Force in April covering Arizona, Nevada, and the Northern District of California. U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said federal investigators and prosecutors had disrupted fraud schemes representing more than $1 billion in Arizona alone.
In announcing the strike force, the Justice Department cited the prosecution of two wound-graft company owners in a $1.2 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme and the indictment of Farrukh Jarar Ali, a Pakistani national accused of directing an approximately $650 million fraud operation involving at least 41 Arizona substance-abuse treatment clinics.
Federal prosecutors allege Ali’s company helped enroll clinics as providers with AHCCCS before submitting approximately $650 million in fraudulent claims for services that were unnecessary, substandard, or never provided. AHCCCS paid approximately $564 million on the claims, according to the Justice Department.
Hobbs’ administration has separately promoted Arizona’s existing efforts to prevent Medicaid fraud. In May, the governor’s office said the state’s enforcement campaign had targeted as much as $2.5 billion in suspected fraud, produced more than 364 payment suspensions based on credible allegations, and contributed to more than 100 indictments. AHCCCS also began deploying the Alivia 360 analytics platform this summer to identify potential improper claims before payment.
Carbone said the federal agreement could add another investigative tool by allowing authorities to identify suspicious connections between public payments and corporate records earlier.
“Arizona has already paid an enormous price for fraud,” Carbone said. “Governor Hobbs can act now to help prevent the next scandal. If she chooses to leave Arizona on the sidelines, she should explain why.”
Rep. Eli Crane’s reelection campaign has reserved $2.1 million in fall advertising as the Arizona Republican prepares for a rematch with former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez in the state’s Second Congressional District.
The advertising will run across broadcast television, cable, satellite, streaming services, social media, and radio beginning in mid-September, according to an announcement from the Crane campaign.
“The same D.C. Democrats who look down on rural Arizonans because we don’t share their woke values want to pretend like they all of the sudden care about AZ-02,” Crane said. “What they really care about is power.”
“The truth is it is just another seat to them, but not to me,” Crane continued. “This is a district made up of some of the finest people you’d ever meet, folks who pray to God, love their neighbors, work hard, and play by the rules. It is an honor to serve them in Congress.”
Crane said he was prepared to defend his record against Democratic attacks during the general election campaign.
“If the D.C. Democrats want a fight, they’ve got one,” Crane said. “I don’t back down and am more prepared than ever to put my record up against their lies.”
The reservation follows the July release of Crane’s first general-election advertisement, titled “Fight.” The digital ad highlighted Crane’s military service and presented the former Navy SEAL as an advocate for rural Arizona willing to challenge members of both political parties in Washington. Crane served 13 years in the Navy and completed five wartime deployments, including three with SEAL Team 3.
Crane’s campaign previously said it planned to invest at least seven figures in paid media during the general election. The new reservation specifies the amount, platforms, and timing of the planned spending.
The congressman enters the fall with a substantial fundraising advantage. Crane’s campaign reported approximately $9.48 million in total receipts and $2.84 million in cash on hand through the end of June.
Nez reported approximately $3.52 million in total receipts and $1.91 million in cash on hand over the same reporting period. His campaign spent approximately $1.67 million through June.
Crane and Nez were unopposed in their respective party primaries. They are expected to face each other in the November 3 general election along with Libertarian Curtis Goodwin.
The contest is a rematch of the 2024 election, when Crane defeated Nez with 221,413 votes, or approximately 54.5 percent, to Nez’s 184,963 votes, or approximately 45.5 percent. Nez carried Apache, Coconino, and Graham counties, as well as the district’s portions of Maricopa and Mohave counties, while Crane prevailed in Gila, Navajo, Pinal, and Yavapai counties.
Arizona’s Second Congressional District includes Prescott, Flagstaff, and much of the Navajo Nation. The Cook Political Report rates the race “Likely Republican” and gives the district a Republican advantage of seven percentage points in its Partisan Voting Index. Cook reported that Nez finished nine points behind Crane in 2024 while outperforming the Democratic presidential ticket within the district.
Crane was first elected to Congress in 2022 and is seeking a third term. Nez served as president of the Navajo Nation from 2019 through 2023 and is making his second bid for the congressional seat.
Arizona’s general election is scheduled for November 3. Early voting begins October 7, and the voter-registration deadline is October 5.
Arizonans can now access records of mutual fund notice filings online.
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) announced that the state began accepting mutual fund notice filings electronically on Monday.
The filings are available on the Electronic Filing Depository (EFD), an application system maintained by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).
The ACC’s Securities Division oversees mutual fund notice filings. Division Director Mark Dinell said in a statement that enabling EFD usage improved efficiency for investor regulation.
“The Securities Division is committed to providing efficient, modern regulatory services that facilitate lawful capital formation while maintaining Arizona’s strong investor protection standards,” said Dinell. “Arizona’s participation in the NASAA EFD offers issuers and their representatives an additional electronic filing option that streamlines the submission process, improves administrative efficiency, and supports timely access to Arizona’s capital markets without compromising the division’s regulatory oversight responsibilities.”
The EFD also has the capability of maintaining the electronic submissions of other notice filings to include Rule 506 offerings, unit investment trusts, and franchise registrations, though Arizona only allows for several filing types.
Going forward, the EFD will allow both the ACC and authorized filers to reduce paper submissions and administrative processing for mutual fund notice filings.
In addition to the ability to submit those filings electronically, authorized filers may pay applicable Arizona filing fees online, manage filings and renewals through a centralized portal, review filing status and history, and receive electronic confirmation of submitted filings.
The EFD also enables Arizonans to search and view filings submitted using the system, at no cost to the public.
Arizona is one of 22 states and territories that allow electronic filing through EFD for mutual fund notices: Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Kentucky also joined the EFD for mutual funds filings on Monday.
All other states, as well as the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, are in the process of allowing that kind of electronic filing through EFD.
Arizona began accepting EFD submissions of initial and amendment filings for Regulation D, Rule 506 offerings in 2023. The ACC still accepts paper filings for those as well.
Arizona does not allow electronic submissions through the EFD for notices of unit investment trusts or other filings through the universal filing type.
Also on Monday, the ACC issued its annual report for the 2025-26 fiscal year. ACC Chair Nick Myers said highlights of the fiscal year aligned with the commissioners’ commitment to safety, reliability, and affordability when it comes to utilities, entrepreneurship, and investing.
“The commission has continued strengthening Arizona’s grid, championing regulatory stability and efficiency, and eliminating subsidies and cost shifts,” stated Myers.
Highlights included grid stability proven by the lack of rolling blackouts and major power outages, nearly 8,000 megawatts of new electricity generation, electricity prices below the national average marked by a 1.2% decrease compared to a 7% national increase, a new online business filing portal called the Arizona Business Center, and more than $76 million in revenue contributed to the state’s general fund.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Three members of a Phoenix family have pleaded guilty in connection with a years-long scheme to fraudulently obtain nearly $2.2 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.
Mohammed Maio, 43, of Phoenix pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
His parents, Souzan El-Sayed, 66, and Abukar Maio, 70, also of Phoenix pleaded guilty on July 24 to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Mohammed Maio is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi.
El-Sayed and Abukar Maio are scheduled for sentencing on October 5, 2026, before the same judge.
According to a press release, the three family members conspired between May 2020 and March 2024 to fraudulently obtain and misuse loans issued through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, both which were established to provide financial relief to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors said the family submitted false information to secure nearly $2.2 million on loans for multiple businesses that had no employees. Rather than using the funds for legitimate business purposes the defendants admitted they used the money for personal gain, including the purchase of multiple properties.
In addition to the fraud charges, Mohammad Maio admitted to illegally obtaining a firearm despite being a convicted felon. He pleaded guilty to a felon in possession of a firearm and aiding another in making a materially false statement to purchase a firearm.
According to his plea agreement, he arranged for this mother to purchase the firearm on his behalf in May 2021. He admitted the he directed her to falsely certify on the federal firearms transaction record that the gun was being purchased for her own use when it was actually intended for him. He later unlawfully possessed the firearm.
The conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud charge carries a maximum sentence for 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
The conspiracy to commit money laundering charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
The felon in possession of a firearm charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while making a false statement during the purchase of a firearms carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine.
Actual sentences will be determined by the court.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Arizona now enjoys nearly $7.4 billion in total assets, representing a 126% increase since Treasurer Kimberly Yee took office in 2019.
Per the latest local government investment report from the treasurer’s office, total June earnings among the four local government investment pools (LGIP) exceeded $22.8 million. Per the treasurer’s office, each LGIP is a fixed-income investment pool with multiple governmental entity contributors.
Pool 5 investment fund earnings exceeded $10.5 million; Pool 7 earnings exceeded $9 million; Pool 500 earnings exceeded $2.5 million; and Pool 700 earnings exceeded $686,000.
Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee reported at the State Board of Investment meeting that the Local Government Investment Pool reached $7.4 billion in total assets. This is an increase of 126% since @AZTreasurerYee took office.
— Office of the Arizona State Treasurer (@AZTreasury) July 30, 2026
The treasurer’s office accomplished a record $7.6 billion in total assets last fall. The state’s Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund has also hit record highs under the Yee administration.
Recently, Yee secured the Republican nomination over incumbent Tom Horne in the race for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction.
She has positioned herself as a defender of parental privacy rights when it comes to school choice funds. The treasurer remained in a lawsuit filed by a media outlet seeking records not kept by the treasurer’s office which contained sensitive student and family information, some of which were educational, medical, or financial in nature.
Earlier this month, Yee prevailed in that case in the Maricopa County Superior Court.
“We will continue to provide transparency regarding records in our custody, consistent with our statutory duties, while safeguarding confidential information entrusted to the state,” stated Yee at the time.
Today, we won our case against 12 News and Craig Harris to prioritize the privacy of Arizona children and ESA families. This case has been about protecting the privacy of Arizona's children and their families.
Yee also partnered with the State Financial Officers Foundation this year to produce a report on fraud and mismanagement of federal education tax dollars within state education departments and school districts. The report described oversight of public funding within education as more than bureaucratic duty, but “an economic and moral imperative” given the growing affordability crisis facing families.
The collaborative report including Yee’s contributions relied on more than six years’ worth of semiannual reports to Congress by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG), which yielded approximately 90 instances of confirmed and prosecuted fraud and abuse.
Arizona was not included in the report highlights. However, one Arizona case was within the cited OIG data, concerning the Bradley Academy of Excellence enrollment fraud scheme that resulted in the theft of $2.5 million.
I am honored to partner with @SFOF_States in addressing national education issues related to fraud and mismanagement. My office is dedicated to protecting taxpayers and promoting fiscal responsibility and transparency for Arizona families.⁰ Full report: https://t.co/UZWaeiinJEpic.twitter.com/vo60SfRo8H
— Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee (@AZTreasurerYee) July 16, 2026
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
