fraudulent schemes; artifices; jurisdiction

Plain English Breakdown

The bill's effective date is unknown because it was vetoed; its legal force depends on whether lawmakers overrode the veto.

HB2970: Changes to Fraud Laws and Jurisdiction

This bill changes Arizona law on fraudulent schemes by adding strict sentencing rules for large frauds or opioid cases, clarifying that victims do not need to rely on the lie for a crime to happen, and allowing prosecutors to charge crimes if any part of the scheme happened in Arizona.

What This Bill Does

• Amends Section 13-2310 of the Arizona Revised Statutes regarding fraudulent schemes and artifices.
• Requires that people convicted of fraud involving $100,000 or more cannot get probation, sentence suspension, pardon, or early release until they serve their full sentence, unless specific exceptions apply.
• Applies the same strict sentencing rules to cases involving the manufacture, sale, or marketing of opioids.
• States that prosecutors do not need to prove a victim relied on false statements to convict someone of fraud.
• Allows Arizona courts to handle cases where only one part of the fraudulent act happened within the state's borders.
• Defines 'scheme or artifice to defraud' to include depriving people of their right to honest services.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who knowingly obtain benefits through false statements, promises, or omissions in Arizona.
• Individuals convicted of fraud involving amounts over $100,000 or opioid-related activities.
• Prosecutors and courts handling cases where fraudulent acts occurred partly inside and partly outside the state.

Terms To Know

Class 2 felony

A serious crime category in Arizona that carries significant prison time and fines.

Artifice to defraud

A plan or trick used to cheat someone out of money, property, or honest services.

Aggregation

Combining multiple acts into one total amount to determine the correct punishment level.

Limits and Unknowns

• The governor vetoed this bill on June 19, 2026, so it did not become law unless lawmakers overrode that decision.
• The text does not specify if a legislative override of the veto occurred after the official status was recorded.

Official Summary Text

HB2970 - fraudulent schemes; artifices; jurisdiction

Current Bill Text

HB2970 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

fraudulent schemes;
artifices; jurisdiction

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2970

AN
ACT

AMENDING SECTION 13-2310, ARIZONA REVISED
STATUTES; RELATING TO FRAUDULENT

SCHEMES AND ARTIFICES.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 13-2310, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
13-2310.

Fraudulent schemes and artifices; classification; definition

A.
Any

A
person
who, pursuant to a scheme or artifice to defraud, knowingly obtains any benefit
by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, promises or
material omissions is guilty of a class 2 felony.

B. Reliance on the part of any person shall not be a
necessary element of the offense described in subsection A of this section.

C. A person who is convicted of a violation of this
section that involved a benefit with a value of
one hundred
thousand dollars

$100,000
or more or the
manufacture, sale or marketing of opioids is not eligible for suspension of
sentence, probation, pardon or release from confinement on any basis except
pursuant to section 31-233, subsection A or B until the sentence imposed
by the court has been served, the person is eligible for release pursuant to
section 41-1604.07 or the sentence is commuted.

D. This state shall apply the aggregation prescribed
by section 13-1801, subsection B to violations of this section in
determining the applicable punishment.

E. In a prosecution for a violation
of this section,
this state is only required to establish
that one of the acts that constitutes a violation of this section occurred in
this state or within a single city, town, county or local jurisdiction of this
state. this state is not required to establish that all of the acts
that constitute the violation of this section occurred in this state or within
a single city, town, county or local jurisdiction of this state. It
is not a defense to a prosecution for a violation of this section that not all
of the acts that constitute the violation of this section occurred in this
state or within a single city, town, county or local jurisdiction of this
state.

E.

F.
For
the purposes of this section, "scheme or artifice to defraud"
includes a scheme or artifice to deprive a person of the intangible right of
honest services.
END_STATUTE