Attorney General Mayes announced the sentencing of Bridget C. O’Brien in a case involving fraud against the Small Business Administration (SBA). O'Brien received a sentence of two years in prison, followed by three years of probation, and was ordered to pay $1,273,794.95 in restitution to the SBA.
"My office is committed to holding fraudsters accountable and protecting the interests of Arizona taxpayers," stated Attorney General Mayes. "This egregious misuse of taxpayer funds for lavish personal expenses is unacceptable and my office will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals who engage in fraud."
The investigation by the Arizona Attorney General's Office revealed that O'Brien applied for $2.9 million in SBA loans between March 2020 and January 2021. The applications contained significant misrepresentations that allowed her companies to secure loan funds they would not have qualified for otherwise.
A notable misuse involved payments from an SBA-funded account towards purchasing a $1.9 million luxury home in Phoenix. Other unauthorized personal expenses included dining, travel, clothing, home furniture, rent payments for her rental home, tuition fees, and volleyball lessons for her child.
Humberto Preciado III served as the prosecutor on this case with Special Agent Roy Garrison from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit leading the investigation. The case was managed by Arizona Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.