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Attorney General Brnovich Announces 4 Individuals Indicted in Fraud Scheme Related to Higley School District Published: 24 July 2021 24 July 2021
Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced today that a State Grand Jury indicted Denise Birdwell, Gary Aller, Steven Nielsen, and Kay Hartwell Hunniuctt for their alleged role in the procurement for construction of the Elona Ranch and Sossaman middle schools in Higley Unified School District (HUSD).
HUSD was required to follow the procurement process when issuing Request for Proposal 013-203. The procurement process prohibits any party that provides input on a project from receiving any direct or indirect benefit from the project. The indictment alleges that in 2012, Birdwell, who was HUSD Superintendent at the time, was aware that Aller and Nielsen had participated in the pre-bid process which provided a competitive advantage to a bidding company owned by Aller and Nielsen, Education Facilities Development Service
Denise Birdwell
A former superintendent of the Scottsdale and Higley unified school districts has been indicted as part of an investigation of possible misuse of public money tied to school construction.
A report by the Arizona Auditor General found that Denise Birdwell may have conspired with three other individuals employed by Higley district vendors to violate state procurement laws when the district awarded the nearly $2.6 million contract to Educational Facilities Development Services (EFDS).
The report states that Gary Aller and Steven Nielsen with EFDS, and Birdwell may have also violated a State law related to fraudulent schemes when they seemingly concealed their wrongdoing by certifying false information on Higley records, making what appear to be false attestations regarding following School District Procurement Rules for the (schools construction project).
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Authorities say while Denise Birdwell was running the Higley Unified School District, she was lining her own pockets with money she got in a kickback scheme involving school construction.
The Attorney General s Office said the four were involved in a fraud scheme tied to rigged contracts that cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Prosecutors accused Birdwell of taking payments for helping a company win a bid for building two middle schools in 2012.
Birdwell also misspent $6 million of public money that she diverted from a restricted fund to help cover construction costs related to the contracts, prosecutors said.
The indictments punctuate years of allegations that followed Birdwell from Higley to Scottsdale unified school districts from 2011 until 2018 when she was forced out of her job.