SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. — Santa Cruz County is suing its former treasurer for allegedly embezzling more than $39 million.
In a statement released Friday, the county's supervisors said they were filing a lawsuit in Pima County against Elizabeth Gutfahr, to recover funds allegedly stolen from the small Arizona county.
The lawsuit shows county officials are accusing Gutfahr of wiring money out of the county's savings accounts and into corporate entities or bank accounts she controlled. The former treasurer allegedly spent a decade using the county's funds as "her own personal piggy-bank" to fund an opulent lifestyle, the lawsuit states.
Gutfahr allegedly covered up the embezzlement by fabricating investment statements and only wiring funds during certain times of the year, according to the county's lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims county officials don't know exactly how, but they accuse Gutfahr or creating fake bank statements from UBS, an international corporation that handled some of the county's money. But, the lawsuit claims, Gutfahr altered the contact information for the bank to lead back to Gutfahr's "agents".
One of the addresses listed is a single-family home in Rio Rico, the other is a PO Box in the tiny town of Tumacacori.
County officials said they first became aware of 11 fraudulent transactions totaling $375,000 in April, which prompted an FBI investigation.
According to the lawsuit, a representative from Chase Bank called the then-county manager about some "suspicious transactions". The county manager told the representative they should be talking to the Gutfahr. The Chase representative then said it was Gutfahr's transactions they were concerned about.
Gutfahr resigned as the county's treasurer on April 12 citing health and personal reasons, but the county's lawsuit claims she resigned because the theft had been discovered.
In all, the county believes they're out more than $39 million, and lost another $1 million in interest.
Gutfahr did not respond to requests from 12News.
Santa Cruz County Manager Jesus Valdez sent a statement that reads:
"Last week, Santa Cruz County filed a civil lawsuit in the Pima County Superior Court against former Treasurer, Elizabeth Gutfahr, alleging that she embezzled at least $39,412,000 from the County. We are grateful for the court’s decision appointing a temporary receiver in response to this case. The receiver's role is to take custody of, manage, and protect the assets in question, ensuring they are preserved and properly handled during the County’s legal proceedings against Ms. Gutfahr and her associates. Our goal is to recover as much of the stolen funds as possible on behalf of our community."
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