Arizona's battle against small business loan fraud had a recent conclusion, with Attorney General Mayes announcing a decisive sentence for Bridget C. O’Brien. According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, O’Brien is facing 2 years in prison, followed by a probation period of 3 years, for her role in defrauding the Small Business Administration (SBA) out of millions. In addition to her prison time, the court is holding O’Brien accountable for a hefty sum, ordering her to pay back $1,273,794.95 in restitution.

In their commitment to protect Arizona taxpayers and hold fraudsters like O’Brien accountable, Mayes said, "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," as stated by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. O'Brien, amidst this charged landscape of accountability, had applied for $2.9 million in SBA loans from March 2020 to January 2021, using shell companies and other ventures to execute her plan.

The investigation unearthed that the defendant managed to secure those loans through a series of "gross material misrepresentations" in her applications. These deceitful acts enabled her various corporate entities to access funds they wouldn't have qualified for under truthful circumstances. A particularly bold maneuver involved her SBA-funded bank account making payments toward a $1.9 million luxury Phoenix home, as per the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

The case was prosecuted by Humberto Preciado III from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, with Special Agent Roy Garrison from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit leading the investigation. The Arizona Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit handled the case.