AZ Auditor - Fraud Report

We received an allegation of financial misconduct by Jennifer Alcaida, former Town of Parker (Town) office specialist. Our investigation revealed that from February through October 2021, Ms. Alcaida may have embezzled $173,295 of Town monies when she admittedly issued unauthorized checks to herself and others, kept cash that should have been deposited in a Town bank account, and made personal purchases on Town credit cards. We have submitted our report to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which on April 14, 2025, presented evidence to the State Grand Jury. The action resulted in Ms. Alcaida’s indictment on 9 felony counts related to theft, fraudulent schemes and artifices, and forgery. 

Additionally, in 2021, Ms. Alcaida received a $20,833 U.S. Small Business administration (SBA)-backed COVID-19 federal relief monies Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for a nonexistent business. We requested the Arizona Attorney General’s Office forward the information we provided regarding this loan to the U.S. Department of Justice for consideration and appropriate resolution. 

This alert outlines what different authentication controls are, why they are important to the integrity of your system, and what actions you can take to ensure they are effectively used to help protect the public monies you manage. 

As part of their responsibility to prevent and detect fraud, Yuma Elementary School District (District) officials took appropriate action by reporting to us alleged financial misconduct by Mercedes Brena (aka Mercedes Ruiz), former human resources specialist.  

Our investigation revealed that from November 2021 through October 2022, Ms. Brena admittedly may have perpetrated 3 payroll fraud schemes for her personal benefit and may have used a District purchasing card (p-card) and 2 District credit cards for her personal purposes, altogether causing an $86,388 District loss. Ms. Brena admitted to us she was involved in all 3 payroll schemes and personally benefited from some of her unauthorized p-card purchases.  

We submitted our report to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which on August 18, 2025, presented evidence to the State Grand Jury, resulting in Ms. Brena’s indictment on 9 felony counts related to misuse of public monies, theft, fraudulent schemes and practices, and forgery.