Santa Cruz County is shown as a small mark on the map of Arizona.
Located remotely on the state's southern border, it is one of Arizona's smallest and poorest counties.
But for more than a decade, funds under the control of this hapless rural county have been diverted to pay for personal luxuries like ranches, home renovations, swimming pools, outdoor dining areas and vacations.
That is, if the accusations are proven true.
An investigation by the Arizona Auditor General has found that the county's then-Treasurer, Elizabeth Gutfer, is accused of embezzling about $40 million ($39.4 million) over the past decade.
Yes, that's right: $40 million.
How could a small county have suffered such huge losses?
A small county like Santa Cruz Population: 49,000 What happens when the residents (in a city roughly 1/90th the size of Maricopa County) lose roughly $40 million in assets over a 10-year period?
When it came time to fund road repairs, libraries, law enforcement and other services, did no one notice the critical shortfalls?
In context, One of the most notorious scandals The first case of its kind, in which government officials were accused and convicted of stealing from taxpayers, occurred in Bell, California, one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County.
The Bell case, which broke in 2010, was a national story for years as the media followed it from its initial exposure to its eventual conviction.
Most egregiously, city executives handling the suitcases were found to have been stealing money from city manual laborers, inflating their own salaries by hundreds of thousands of dollars to the tune of $5.5 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
That's a long way from $40 million.
What nearly $40 million can buy
To get a better picture, understand this: Here's what roughly $40 million would buy you.
- 90 new homes, $440,000; Median Price Phoenix metropolitan area.
That is a luxurious life.
According to court documents, Gutfall appeared to be living the caviar dream, according to reporter Sarah Lapidus of the Arizona Republic. One of her neighbors, Kathleen Bendervoort, said she was amazed to see such a bargain when she attended a fundraiser at Gutfall's horse ranch in April 2023.
“I was shocked because she was talking about the renovations she and her husband had done on the ranch itself, which must have been quite expensive,” Vandervoort said.
Investigation into Gutfahr:It's really bothering me
The property includes a new pool, pool house, remodeled rooms and an outdoor kitchen area. “My first thought was, where did she get all this money? I just thought, 'Oh, I hope she gets lucky. I hope she inherits it,' but I never gave it any more thought.”
And what's worse, it's taxpayers' money.
According to Lapidus, Gutphard allegedly made 182 unauthorized wire transfers from two county treasurer's bank accounts to his personal business accounts and went to great lengths to destroy the evidence.
Citing court records, Lapidus reported that she was able to ignore internal controls and make unauthorized transfers.
Clearly, this was a massive collapse. Already, Arizona Rep. Matt Gress is drafting a bill that would give state auditors broader scope to look across the financial department for potential fraud.
But justice must be served first.
The people of Santa Cruz County are not wealthy. They are working class people. Many are working poor. Most of the county is first and second generation immigrants who have never seen money stolen from their coffers, the taxpayer coffers.
If all this is true, then 40 million is not just a number but a measure of the moral abhorrence we feel about it.
Phil Boas is an opinion columnist for The Arizona Republic. His email address is phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.
