Elizabeth Gutfahr, the former Santa Cruz County Treasurer accused by County officials of embezzling more than $39 million over a ten-year period, made her first public appearance since resigning from office in April in Tucson Wednesday afternoon at a civil court hearing in Pima County Superior Court.

Dressed in simple black, with her hair tied back, looking wan, Gutfahr entered the courtroom less than ten minutes before the hearing’s 2pm start, hushing the small but talkative gallery, which included Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway and Supervisors Bruce Bracker and Rudy Molera, journalists, attorneys and a handful of onlookers. 

Although this hearing was part of a civil case brought by Santa Cruz County, Gutfahr was accompanied by a retinue that included two criminal defense attorneys. She was represented at the hearing by a civil attorney, Jonathan M. Saffer, who told Judge Wayne E. Yehling that he had only been retained by the defendants within the last 24 hours.

Saffer told the court that since assets belonging to Gutfahr and her husband, David, had been placed in receivership by court order on Aug. 8, they were essentially broke. Saffer said that while “everybody wants to see the County made whole,” the effect of the interim receivership was that “right now, [Gutfahr] can’t walk across the street and pay for lunch.”

Attorney Benjamin Reeves, lead attorney for Santa Cruz County’s legal team at today’s hearing, replied, “Mrs. Gutfahr made her bed.” Reeves argued that the receivership order was necessary to keep Gutfahr from moving money amongst various bank accounts and a “web of LLCs” that she controlled, which the County alleges are all linked to the embezzlement and fraud scheme outlined in their civil complaint. Reeves noted that Gutfahr had attempted to transfer $500,000 to attorneys the day after the receivership had been put in place.

After some back-and-forth, Judge Yehling eventually ruled to extend the receivership indefinitely, with Gutfahr being allowed access to $2,000 per month from a personal Wells Fargo account for living expenses. 

Judge Yehling scheduled an all-day evidentiary hearing, which will include a review of the findings of the receiver, for Sept. 20. 

During Wednesday’s hearing, Reeves told the court that forensic accountants working with the receiver “had hit the ground running and made significant progress” in uncovering further evidence of fraud and locating previously unknown, recoverable assets, including a multi-million dollar Mexican estate. He said that continuing the receivership would make further investigation possible.

Reeves also told the court that the plaintiffs had been unable to serve papers to Gutfahr’s husband David, a defendant in the case, and he anticipated that “alternative servicing” may be necessary.

Outside the courtroom after the hearing’s conclusion, Supervisor Bracker talked about the civil case, brought by the County more than four months after the allegations of embezzlement were first made.

“Today showed that the County is being diligent in pursuing the missing funds,” he said. 

And what about criminal charges?

“Criminal charges are in the hands of the federal investigators and prosecutors,” Bracker said. “Those things take time, which is why we are pursuing this course.” 

Gutfahr did not speak on the record in court, and had what seemed to be only minor contact with her attorneys during the hearing. 

After the hearing, as she and her team waited for an elevator in the hallway outside the courtroom, Gutfahr stared straight ahead, refusing to answer questions from reporters.