NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN) — Santa Cruz County is trying to track down more than 39 million dollars in reportedly missing money. Now we know how much it costs to get a grip on millions in assets.
A civil lawsuit accuses former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr with embezzling more than 39 million dollars over a span of about ten years.
As of now she is not facing any criminal charges.
Santa Cruz County sued to try to recover the money and prevent Gutfahr from selling or hiding assets that may have been bought with public money.
That led to a court-appointed receiver taking control of Gutfahr’s real estate, vehicles, and even cattle held in the name of her companies.
A court document, agreed to by all sides, says the receiver should be paid more than $478,000 through the end of this year with approval to exceed his budget by up to 25 percent in a given month. Much of the money will be to manage and maintain the assets along with investigating the case.
There is another court hearing coming up this month where Gutfahr’s attorney will challenge creation of the receivership that even has the power to limit what Gutfahr can spend on basic living expenses.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
