A Maricopa County grand jury has indicted Ulises Oseguera, a former Phoenix Police Department officer, on charges that include fraudulent schemes and artifices and theft, accusing him of cashing in on other people’s paychecks.
The indictment alleges that between October 2023 and February 2025, Oseguera “obtained a benefit” and controlled the monetary earnings of multiple people, with the total amount pegged at least $4,000 but less than $25,000. Prosecutors say the case centers on how that money was handled and who really benefited.
Oseguera spent roughly nine years with the Phoenix Police Department before resigning in December 2025, as the investigation was underway. After digging into the allegations, the department’s investigative units referred felony theft charges to county prosecutors, setting the stage for the grand jury to weigh in.
Public payroll records list Oseguera on the City of Phoenix’s rolls for multiple years, with a 2023 salary in the neighborhood of $102,000. According to OpenGovPay, those public records reflect his recent employment as a Phoenix police officer.
What the indictment alleges
As reported by ABC15 Arizona, the grand jury’s indictment states that Oseguera “obtained a benefit” and controlled the earnings of others during the alleged scheme. ABC15 also reports that the department’s Special Investigations Division submitted felony theft charges to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in January 2026.
By that point, the Phoenix Police Professional Standards Bureau had already wrapped up an internal review that, according to ABC15, “substantiated the elements of the offense.” In other words, internal investigators said the facts matched the alleged violations closely enough to move the case forward.
Department watchdogs and past cases
Phoenix Police’s Professional Standards Bureau and Special Investigations Division are the internal watchdogs tasked with handling administrative and criminal inquiries when officers face serious allegations. They are the ones who decide whether a complaint stays in-house as a policy problem or turns into a criminal referral.
A look back at prior misconduct cases in Phoenix shows a familiar pattern. Internal probes sometimes evolve into criminal cases and public controversy, a dynamic that has been documented by Phoenix New Times.
What’s next and legal stakes
Because this case went to a grand jury, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will lead the prosecution. ABC15 has filed a public records request seeking the full indictment and related documents and reports that additional records were not yet publicly available.
The conduct described in the charging documents falls under Arizona’s fraudulent schemes statute, identified as A.R.S., per the Arizona Revised Statutes. How prosecutors ultimately apply that law to the alleged conduct will now play out in court, where Oseguera will have the chance to respond to the charges.
