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In an effort to make young people aware of the tragedy of elder abuse, Attorney General Terry Goddard, the Arizona Area Agencies on Aging and the Arizona Elder Abuse Coalition have partnered to sponsor the 2010 “Why Should I Care about Elder Abuse?” student arts competition.

“This is the second year we have held this competition, and it has helped increase attention to elder abuse,” said Goddard. “While my office continues to prosecute those who commit this crime, only through awareness can we stop abuse before it begins.”

High school juniors throughout Arizona are invited to create an original artwork illustrating the question, “Why Should I Care about Elder Abuse?” This contest will help spotlight the need to protect their grandparents, friends and neighbors. Elder abuse includes financial fraud or exploitation, neglect and physical abuse. It is one of the most underreported crimes in Arizona.

Entries are due February 17, 2010, at your local Area Agency on Aging. Regional winners will be announced in March. Local area contest winners will receive first, second and third place prizes of $100, $75, and $50. Three winners from each Area Agency on Aging will then compete for statewide prizes. Statewide contest winners will receive first, second and third place prizes of $500, $250, and $100, and six honorable mentions will receive $25.

Winning artworks will also be used on a poster to promote a statewide elder abuse awareness campaign held to coincide with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, 2010.

For additional information, contest rules and to find your local Area Agency on Aging, go to www.azag.gov.

Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Deborah Cheryl Bennett, 56, has been indicted on eight felony counts in connection with an Arizona investment scheme that defrauded 32 investors of more than $500,000.

When she operated the alleged scheme in 2006 and 2007, Bennett was active in social and civic affairs in the Phoenix area. She subsequently moved to Kenosha, Wis., remarried and changed her name to Deborah Cheryl Paura.

Bennett is alleged to have represented herself as a stock trader, though she did not hold a license to sell securities, and promised investors that she would invest their money in stocks at a guaranteed high rate of return – in some cases 20 to 30 percent monthly.  She also guaranteed that she would return the principal to the investors.  She instead took a portion of the funds for her personal use and did not return the principal.

As a result of her actions, which took place in Maricopa County, she was charged with:

• One count of fraudulent schemes and artifices
• Five counts of theft
• One count of fraud in purchase or sale of securities
• One count of transactions by unregistered dealer

Her arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 3, in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The case was investigated by the Arizona Corporation Commission and is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Todd Lawson.

Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced an antitrust settlement with 16 other State Attorneys General, the United States Department of Justice, Ticketmaster and Live Nation that preserves competition in the concert ticketing services market in Arizona and nationally.

Ticketmaster, the nation’s largest ticketing services company, and Live Nation, the nation’s largest concert promoter, announced 11 months ago that they were merging to form Live Nation Entertainment. The announcement came less than two months after Live Nation had entered the concert ticketing business as Ticketmaster’s closest competitor.

According to the Complaint accompanying the settlement agreement filed today in the United States District Court, District of Columbia, consumers and major concert venues would have faced higher ticket service charges as a result of the merger of these two giants in the concert industry. The settlement remedies the anticipated anticompetitive result of a merger between these competitors.

“We have taken action to protect Arizona concert goers.” Goddard said. “Without the required divestitures and prohibitions in this settlement, the combined company would have been a behemoth, with no competitive pressure to limit concert ticket service charges. This settlement ensures that competitors will have the ability to compete to provide ticketing services to major concerts. Venues will be able to choose a ticket provider other than Live Nation Entertainment while still having access to the concerts promoted by Live Nation Entertainment.”

The settlement agreement, in the form of a Proposed Final Judgment, requires the merging parties to grant a perpetual license to Ticketmaster’s core primary ticketing platform to a third party. The merging parties are further required to divest Ticketmaster’s entire Paciolan business, which provides a venue-managed platform for selling tickets through the venue’s own web site. Finally, the Final Judgment prohibits the merging parties from retaliating against venue owners who contract with the merging parties’ competitors.

The Settlement is subject to the Federal Tunney Act, which provides for a period of at least 60 days or public comment before the court can approve the settlement.

The other settling states include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Ticketmaster is a Delaware corporation headquartered in West Hollywood, Calif. In 2008, it sold more than 141 million tickets valued at nearly $9 billion.

Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif. Its 2008 gross revenues were more than $4 billion.

Three Tucson non-profits to receive $490,984

WHO: Attorney General Terry Goddard will present checks to three of the 12 non-profit housing counseling entities in Arizona receiving awards from the Countrywide consumer fraud settlement. Family Housing Resources, Inc. will receive $179,098, Administrative Resources and Choices (ARC) will receive $157,680 and PIO Decimo Center will receive $154,206.

WHAT: The funding provided to these agencies will be utilized to hire additional staff and counselors to work with homeowners on foreclosure alternatives, as well as provide counseling help for consumers at risk of losing their homes.

Goddard will be joined by the directors and members of the recipient boards for a presentation and round table discussion about foreclosure issues and solutions they may have to this problem facing southern Arizona residents.

WHY: “I am committed to working on the housing crisis until it is resolved”, Goddard stated. “It is our hope that these settlement funds will have a positive impact by helping families to remain in their homes. Homeowners should exercise great caution before paying for any foreclosure ‘rescue’ services. These resources will provide free help to struggling borrowers”.

WHEN: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
1:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

WHERE: El Pueblo Neighborhood Community Center
Senior Center Room 105
101 W. Irvington Road
Tucson, Arizona 85714

Attorney General Terry Goddard today sent a letter to Arizona’s Congressional delegation, opposing the so-called “Nebraska Compromise” in federal health care legislation and asking them to strip it from the bill.

That provision, added in the U.S. Senate as an incentive for Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson to vote for the measure, would exempt Nebraska from paying additional Medicaid costs at the expense of Arizona and every other state.

“The ‘sweetheart deal’ for Nebraska is a rotten deal for Arizona and every other state,” Goddard said. “This provision is poor public policy and needs to be removed before this important health care bill is enacted.”

Last week, Goddard asked Gov. Jan Brewer to join him in signing the letter, but the governor declined.

“I was surprised and disappointed that the Governor was unwilling to join me in this letter,” Goddard said. “The message would have been stronger if we could have acted together.”

A copy of the Attorney General’s letter to Arizona’s U.S. Senators and Representatives is attached.

Healthcare delegation letter 1-15-10.pdf

The Attorney General’s Office announced yesterday that Phoenix Police Officer David H. Barnes, 42, of Anthem, and Jeffrey M. Pataky, 41, of Phoenix, have been indicted by the State Grand Jury. Barnes was indicted on charges of perjury, a Class 4 felony, and harassment, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Pataky was indicted on charges of perjury and false swearing, a Class 6 felony.

Barnes, a 14-year Phoenix Police Department veteran, is a former homicide detective and patrol officer who is currently on administrative leave. He is accused of harassing two other members of the department through an anonymous letter and email communications. Pataky operates a Web site on which some allegedly harassing content was posted.

The perjury charges relate to sworn testimony made by the defendants during a family court hearing last year that they did not know each other prior to Nov. 15, 2008, and did not have a personal relationship prior to that date, when evidence allegedly showed otherwise.

The false swearing charge against Pataky relates to sworn statements he made that he did not own or manage an Internet site, when evidence allegedly showed that he owned or managed at least one site.

The investigation was conducted by the Phoenix Police Department.