XPost: alt.politics.clinton, sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: embezzlers@hillaryclinton.com   
      
   Real estate in Patagonia, Arizona; plumbing and new floors for a luxurious   
   150-acre ranch in nearby Tumacacori; operating expenses for a cattle   
   business; and at least 20 vehicles, including Jeeps, Ford trucks, a   
   Mercedes-Benz, Cadillacs and an Airstream touring coach.   
      
   These are some of the items former Santa Cruz County treasurer Elizabeth   
   Gutfahr purchased using more than $38 million of taxpayer funds that she   
   embezzled between 2014 and 2024, according to federal prosecutors.   
      
   Gutfahr, 62, pleaded guilty this week to charges of embezzlement by a   
   public official, money laundering and tax evasion while she was serving as   
   treasurer. Santa Cruz County, in southern Arizona, is looking for ways to   
   recoup the millions that were meant for the public’s benefit, and local   
   officials are also suing the state for allegedly failing for years to   
   properly audit Gutfahr’s books.   
      
   The Justice Department, Santa Cruz County, the FBI and the IRS are part of   
   the team still uncovering Gutfahr’s decade-long scheme.   
      
   “We expect public officials to serve as stewards of the government fisc —   
   not to loot it,” said Nicole Argentieri, the head of the Justice   
   Department’s criminal division, in a statement Thursday.   
      
   Court documents detailed how Gutfahr embezzled the funds over the course   
   of approximately 187 wire transfers while she was county treasurer. She   
   made illegal wire transfers from the county’s bank account, which she   
   controlled, to personal accounts under phony identities, court records   
   said. She then covered her tracks by producing false financial reports,   
   they added.   
      
   In her plea, Gutfahr said she bypassed the two-step approval process for   
   the wire transfers — installed to prevent officials from moving around   
   funds on their own — by lying to her subordinate and saying she was   
   transferring the money to generate interest for the county.   
      
   “I knew when I was stealing the funds from Santa Cruz County’s Savings   
   Account that the funds in this account were used to pay expenses for   
   schools and fire districts,” she said in her plea statement.   
      
   After years of embezzlement, Chase Bank alerted the county in April about   
   unusual transactions in the treasurer’s accounts. Gutfahr was suspended   
   the same week and sued by the county less than four months later.   
      
   Joshua Hamilton, Gutfahr’s lawyer, did not respond to a request for   
   comment Saturday. In a statement shared with the Associated Press,   
   Hamilton said his client “wants to take responsibility for the harm she   
   has caused.”   
      
   “She knows that by pleading guilty, and accepting the punishment she will   
   face as a result, she is taking a step in the right direction to be   
   accountable for her actions,” Hamilton said.   
      
   The county said it has begun the process of recovering the funds from   
   Gutfahr and her family members. Some of the personal properties that have   
   been identified for recovery include real estate, cattle, approximately 15   
   horses, more than a dozen vehicles, and items such as jewelry and farm   
   equipment.   
      
   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. Perry did not   
   respond to a request for comment Saturday night.   
      
   The complaint alleged that the state auditor failed to independently   
   confirm the cash balances reported by Gutfahr, only reviewed the county’s   
   June bank statements and never once requested a random sample of bank   
   statements for any other month.   
      
   “Aware of this careless practice, Gutfahr strategically never stole funds   
   in June or July — and consequently, the Auditor General never found out   
   about the embezzlement,” the county said in its complaint. “Gutfahr’s   
   scheme would have been detected many years ago had the Auditor General   
   properly conducted its audits.”   
      
   Gutfahr is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6 and faces up to 35 years in   
   prison.   
      
   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-treasurer-in-arizona-admits-to-   
   embezzling-38m-over-a-decade/ar-AA1uDQPa   
      
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