SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. — Employees of Santa Cruz County's former treasurer say their boss handed out generous financial gifts before she resigned and was accused of embezzling millions of dollars, a new report shows.
Elizabeth Gutfahr, who stepped down from her elected position earlier this year, is being sued by the small Arizona county for allegedly wiring money out of the county's savings accounts and into corporate entities or bank accounts she controlled.
A report released Monday by the Arizona Auditor General's Office offers more insight into how the former treasurer allegedly lied to her staff and falsified reports to conceal the embezzlement.
The treasurer is suspected of making over 180 unauthorized wire transfers totaling $39 million over a 10-year period. And she allegedly did so undetected from the staff of six employees who worked in her office.
According to the auditor's report, the treasurer's staff acknowledged receiving financial help and gifts from their boss.
One employee said the treasurer would pay their bills from time to time and gifted their children $100 on their birthdays. Another employee told investigators that the treasurer gave them a car and would pay for their personal cell phone.
The former treasurer was allegedly able to bypass an internal control by convincing her chief deputy to share their password for making wire transfers because the employee was told the treasurer wanted to transfer funds into a Wells Fargo account that offered a more favorable interest rate than the Local Government Investment Pool, the report shows.
The chief deputy claims to have questioned the treasurer once in 2021 about a wire transfer for $225,000. The treasurer claimed the transfer was done by mistake and ensured the money would be returned. Auditors allegedly found the money was never returned to the county treasurer's office.
"...nobody else oversaw the Treasurer or monitored her actions, although the County board of supervisors was responsible for doing so," the audit report states.
The auditor highlighted how "false and irregular" monthly finance reports were provided to the county board of supervisors and the county finance department with "no apparent consequence."
More of the auditor's report can be read here.
