PHOENIX — About a year and a half after the filing of the Honyumptewa, et al. v. State of Arizona lawsuit, attorneys spoke out Friday to give the latest updates in the case.
The Class Action Lawsuit against the state of Arizona was filed in December 2024, representing thousands of Native Americans said to be victims of alleged sober living fraud.
Over the last several years, ABC15 has covered various stories of people who say they were victims or knew of loved ones going missing.
Potentially thousands of vulnerable Native Americans were taken to Phoenix with promises of food, shelter and treatment for their substance abuse by behavioral health companies who were allegedly scamming the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
“They weren’t patients, they were dollar signs,” said attorney Dane Wood in a previous interview with ABC15. “We’ve heard stories exactly using those words. There was no sober living about any of this.”
Woods continued: “The state wasn’t vetting the bills they were submitting and turning around and paying for them. Well, once they get payment on the first one, they know they can do it the second time, third time, tenth time, and get away with it. So we’re not talking about one provider; hundreds and hundreds start doing the same thing.”
Attorneys say the state eventually shut down certain providers, but that left many vulnerable people on the streets, susceptible to being targeted again.
Attorney John Brewer also previously told ABC15 that many of the victims either went missing or have since died.
At a press conference on Friday with Plaintiff Class Action attorneys, representatives alleged corruption and stated that Arizona knew what was happening.
See the latest in the case and ongoing investigations in the video player above.
The Attorney General's Office provided the following statement:
I cannot comment on those claims given the ongoing litigation, and I cannot comment on other state agencies.
In general,
AG Mayes has aggressively prosecuted this fraud since exposing the scheme in 2023, bringing over 168 indictments, including dozens more just this week. The office has also convicted dozens of bad actors in the past three years. These efforts have helped reduce fraudulent billing by 92% since 2023.
As AG Mayes has said, the work is not done and the attorney general’s office will continue to pursue criminal entities engaged in this fraud. The office has dozens of ongoing and active investigations.
What would help is a Legislature that supported the work of the AG’s office as opposed to passing budgets that cut the office’s funding, like this year’s 2.5% cut.
AHCCCS and AZDHS sent a joint statement to ABC15, read below:
AHCCCS and ADHS are aware of the allegations made earlier today at a news conference and are unable to comment on the substance of pending litigation.
"We recognize the pain and suffering caused by behavioral health fraud and abuse, including the significant impact this crisis has had on Tribal Nations and vulnerable people across Arizona. ADHS and AHCCCS employees work every day to protect the health and safety of Arizonans and played a critical role in uncovering and addressing the behavioral health fraud scheme.
Since 2023, the Hobbs administration has cracked down on the extensive fraud that occurred during the previous administration and exploited vulnerable Arizonans. Under the Governor’s leadership, AHCCCS launched an aggressive enforcement response in partnership with the FBI, IRS, DOJ, HHS-OIG, DPS, and Arizona AG’s Office. Since 2023, AHCCCS fraud referrals have resulted in at least 180 indictments from the Attorney General, and AHCCCS has suspended over 330 providers.
Our collective actions have saved lives. We have zero tolerance for fraud and will continue to vigilantly protect Arizonans and the integrity of our healthcare system."
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