AG Mayes responds to 12News I-Team revealing alleged $10.3M in banned ESA purchases

PHOENIX — The 12News I-Team recently obtained records that show thousands of parents used Empowership Scholarship accounts to purchase at least $10.3 million on banned items, like condoms, wedding gifts and even paying themselves. After our full story aired on Thursday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes responded.

“Taxpayer dollars meant for education spent on diamond rings and now condoms??” Mayes said on X Thursday night.

Arizona Department of Education records show that at least 18,000 ESA account holders — close to 20% of the entire program — used voucher funds intended for private and home schooling on a myriad of banned purchases.

The documents show nearly 84,000 banned purchases were made with ESA funds.

From roughly December 2024 to October 2025, State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne’s office approved the purchases, the documents reveal.

“I have serious questions about how Arizonans’ money is being misspent,” Mayes said.

The flagged purchases, according to Horne’s office, were identified through a random risk assessment and a full account audit. Roughly 380,000 transactions were sampled by the department, and a banned item was found in about 20% of them.

Horne insisted the statistic doesn’t mean 20% of parents committed fraud.

“Most of it is just mistakes,” Horne said earlier this week.

To read the full story on 12News I-Team Reporter Craig Harris’ findings, click here.

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