Santa Cruz County intends to pursue legal action against the state, claiming "gross negligence" by the Arizona auditor general allowed the county's former treasurer to steal public funds for a decade.

The county claimed the auditor general failed to notice former Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr’s efforts to hide the alleged theft from 2014 to 2024.

Santa Cruz County has recently filed a civil lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court against the State of Arizona and Lindsey A. Perry, Auditor General of the State of Arizona.

The former Santa Cruz County treasurer was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzling over $38 million, authorities said.

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.

Former Treasurer of Santa Cruz County, Elizabeth Gutfahr, pled guilty to embezzlement, money laundering and tax fraud and is accused of stealing nearly $40 million from the county.

The former Santa Cruz County Treasurer's own attorney called hte theft "One of the dumbest, ill-conceived, short-sighted, and most audacious crimes in Arizona state history." ...

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) — The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors responds to the Arizona Auditor General's report regarding the Treasurer.

The auditor general is also suing Santa Cruz County for a lack of oversight. Sarah Lapidus covers southern Arizona politics and issues for The Arizona Republic.

Santa Cruz County is suing Arizona and the state's auditor general, claiming their inaction and “substandard” audits had devastating impacts after its former treasurer was accused of ...