Accused of stealing $40 million, she’ll live on $2000 a month

The woman accused of stealing 40 million dollars from Santa Cruz County will have to live on two thousand dollars a month.

That’s the judge’s ruling in a civil court case that aims to recover missing millions from former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr.

The former Treasurer of Santa Cruz County is accused of stealing roughly 40 million dollars from the county treasury over a period of ten years or so. It’s still a civil suit though criminal charges are expected but right now they are figuring out how to freeze her allegedly ill-gotten assets and also give her enough to still live.

Santa Cruz County claims Elizabeth Gutfahr holds a long list of accounts and real estate that came from roughly forty million in stolen county money.

Those attorneys and Gutfahr’s lawyer agree, pending more hearings, to keep those assets under control of a court appointed receiver. Everything is frozen unless the receiver approves a change. It’s a move to keep Gutfahr from hiding or selling assets Santa Cruz County’s lawyers say were probably paid for with stolen public money.

But that left Gutfahr’s lawyer saying everything is so thoroughly frozen the Gutfahrs have trouble paying for the basics of life.

Gutfahr’s attorney John Saffer says, “Forget the cost of engaging counsel, right now she can’t walk across the street and purchase lunch.”

Santa Cruz County’s lawyers say with millions of dollars disappearing over ten years any account could hold stolen funds and as for Gutfahr’s lack of cash for basic living expenses, attorney Ben Reeves says:

“Her fraud deprived the county of the ability to provide basic public infrastructure. So to say I need basic living expenses, that's the pot calling the kettle black.”

Judge Wayne Yehling convinced attorneys from both sides to agree to the Gutfahrs taking two thousand dollars a month from an account that belongs to Gutfahr’s husband.

There are no criminal charges in the case but the lawyers in these hearings talk as if they assume Gutfahr will face criminal charges. The FBI is investigating and has already seized several cars Gutfahr owned.

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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9 . With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter .