SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Would you like a look at what millions in stolen tax dollars can buy? This story is for you. The former treasurer of Santa Cruz County admitted she stole that money. Now Santa Cruz County is trying to get that money back by selling off the things she bought.
We’ve been reporting about former Santa Cruz Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr. She’s pleaded guilty in Federal Court to stealing more than 38 million dollars in Santa Cruz taxpayers money. One of the places some of that money went is a ranch. It’s going on sale for 5.7 million dollars.
Elizabeth Gutfahr’s house and ranch offers beautiful views, handsome living spaces and a history. Prosecutors say the house is part of a multi-million dollar spending spree with taxpayer money.
Realtor Gary Brasher says he’ll leave the legal stuff to the legal experts and concentrate on selling this ranch and a long list of other real estate Gutfahr bought.
“For me, it's just, it's a great ranch, and it adds a little bit of motivation to know that the funds are going to come back to the taxpayers in Santa Cruz County. So that's kind of helpful.”
Brasher’s handled other high-end real estate through Sotheby’s—a famous firm specializing in selling luxury goods worldwide.He says the properties will go up on multiple listings—-and we do mean multiple.
He says, “It will go to worldwide search engines everywhere from England to Dubai to Saudi to Mexico to Canada, all over the world.”
You can’t just tour the place out of curiosity. You have to show you’re a serious buyer who really can come up with more than five million dollars.
So what would a buyer be like?
Brasher says, “It could just be a person who says, I want a lovely property with irrigated acreage. I'll put a few of my own horses out there, and I'll just have a great life.”
It could be a money making business too. The ranch rented space for horses before Gutfahr had to give it up. It has room for up to a hundred of them.
Gary Brasher says it’s hard to say how long it might take to find the right buyer for this ranch, the house where Gutfahr’s son lived, or any of the long list of properties bought while Elizabeth Gutfahr was stealing millions from taxpayers but he’s focused on getting the deals that will put the most money back in Santa Cruz County’s treasury.
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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.
