Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced a State Grand Jury indicted 61-year-old Laura Tenison Smith, the former chief financial officer for Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), for allegedly breaking the state’s conflict of interest laws. Smith is facing 11 felony charges, including 2 counts of Fraudulent Schemes and Practices and 8 counts of Conflict of Interest.
While employed as SUSD’s Chief Financial Officer, Smith is accused of approving purchase orders and change orders for Professional Group Public Consulting, Inc. (PGPC), a company both Smith and her sister had ownership interests in. The conduct is alleged to have taken place between February 2017 and October 2017.
Special Agents with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Office of the Auditor General investigated the case.
Assistant Attorneys General Joseph Waters and Mary Harriss are prosecuting the case.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.