Santa Cruz County sues AZ, auditor; alleges 'substandard' audits emboldened $40M embezzlement. Sarah Lapidus, Arizona Republic. Updated Wed, November 20, 2024 at 5:04 PM UTC. 6 min read.

Santa Cruz County is pushing back against an Arizona Auditor General report that says county officials bear some of the blame for not catching more than $39 million missing from accounts.

This month, Santa Cruz County also sued the state of Arizona and Lindsey Perry, the state’s auditor general, for “lax auditing standards,” according to the complaint, which demands a jury trial.