Santa Cruz County officials join investigation into alleged $4 million missing county treasury | Local

SONOITA, Ariz. (KVOA) – The reported loss of $4 million from Santa Cruz County coffers is causing concern for those who now learn they may be affected.

In April, the FBI began investigating former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr.

This happened after the bank flagged suspicious transactions in its name.

Much is still unknown, but as the investigation progresses, the community leaders are learning more and more and are now being asked for their help.

“This should not have happened. I mean, this is really disturbing. We are all public officials and the public trusts us,” said Marc Meredith, Sonoita-Elgin Fire Chief.

The Sonoita-Elgin fire chief must now face the reality that the alleged missing four million in county funds may have deprived his district of resources.

“Being a small rural agency, we could always benefit from having more resources than we actually have,” said Chief Meredith.

Now he and others in the county are being asked to help investigate former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr.

“We were asked to review our financial data going back 10 years to see if we noticed any irregularities,” Chief Meredith said. “But the county tells us both the amount we’re supposed to receive and the amount we’re supposed to have. As long as those two things are consistent, it’s going to be difficult for us to understand what might have happened on the county side.”

Santa Cruz County Executive Manuel Ruiz says until the FBI completes its investigation, “we don’t know what is or isn’t missing at this point,” Santa Cruz County Executive Manuel Ruiz said. “What funds were involved? Was it school district funds? Was it fire district funds? Was it community college funds?”

While Fire Chief Meredith does not believe this will impact future funding, the uncertainty surrounding the past is still a concern.

“The majority of our funding for the fire protection district comes from the residents and business owners in our district, and the money goes from them to the county and then to us. So if any of that gets lost along the way, it impacts our ability to serve our community,” said Chief Meredith.

Our chief investigative reporter at News 4 Tucson called Gutfahr, but after he introduced himself, she hung up.