A former Santa Cruz County treasurer pleaded guilty this week to embezzling tens of millions of dollars in public funds. Officials say she tried to cover her trail over the course of a decade.
In her plea agreement, Elizabeth Gutfahr admitted to embezzling and laundering roughly $38 million worth of county money, including local property taxes.
According to authorities, she made nearly 200 wire transfers from county coffers to sock-puppet bank accounts in order to hide where it ended up in her personal one, as recently as this March.
She went further, court documents say, to cover her trail by falsifying reports for county investment accounts, accounting and keeping track of cash.
Gutfahr also pleaded guilty to not paying income tax to the tune of around $13 million.
Court documents reflect that instead, she bought real estate, 20 vehicles, funded her cattle business and renovated her family’s ranch.
The 62-year-old has agreed to pay restitution and could face decades in prison at her sentencing in February.
