Breaking News - County Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former County Treasurer Liz Gutfahr

Breaking News

County Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former County Treasurer Liz Gutfahr

Santa Cruz County issued this press release earlier today:

Santa Cruz County Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr

Nogales, AZ –Yesterday, Santa Cruz County filed a civil lawsuit in Pima County Superior Court against former Treasurer, Elizabeth Gutfahr. Additionally, the investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ), Arizona Auditor General’s Office, B. Riley Financial (forensic auditors), and appointed County Treasurer Alejandro Paz in partnership with Deputy County Manager Mauricio Chavez and the County Attorney’s Office are still active and ongoing.

Today, the Board of Supervisors issued the following update through a joint statement:

“In April of 2024, we were made aware of 11 fraudulent transactions in the amount of $375,000 each, which were reported to us by our financial institution JPMorganChase. The findings prompted concurrent investigations by the Federal Bureau of Justice, Department of Justice, Arizona’s Auditor General’s Office, and Santa Cruz County.

As a first action, Santa Cruz County has yesterday filed a civil lawsuit in the Pima County Superior Court against former Treasurer, Elizabeth Gutfahr, alleging that she embezzled at least $39,412,000, and it is our goal to recover as much of the stolen funds as possible.

In addition, the County is continuing its comprehensive internal review with the assistance of experienced outside legal and forensic accounting professionals, including a full forensic financial investigation of the accounts controlled by the County Treasurer.

The County is also continuing to fully cooperate and assist with separate investigations being conducted by the United States Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation. Likewise, the County is cooperating and assisting with an investigation being led by the newly appointed County Treasurer, Alejandro Paz, and the Deputy County Manager, Mauricio Chavez, with the assistance of the Santa Cruz County Attorney’s Office.

Though this is a significant amount of money for our community, we will do everything in our power to avoid impact to the day-to-day operations of the entities that rely on funding from the County, and we will continue to provide straightforward updates as things progress.”