She is accused of stealing $40,000,000 and has to live on $2,000 a month

TUCSON, Arizona (KGUN) — The woman accused of stealing $40 million in Santa Cruz County must survive on two thousand dollars a month.

This is the judge's decision in a civil case seeking to recover millions of dollars in missing money from former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr.

The former Santa Cruz County treasurer is accused of stealing about $40 million from the county treasury over a period of about 10 years. While it is still a civil suit, an indictment is expected, but the case is currently being considered as to how to freeze her alleged ill-gotten assets and still give her enough to live on.

Santa Cruz County alleges that Elizabeth Gutfahr has a long list of accounts and properties containing approximately forty million in stolen funds from the county.

Those lawyers and Gutfahr's attorney agree to keep those assets under the control of a court-appointed receiver pending further hearings. Everything will be frozen unless the receiver approves a change. This is intended to prevent Gutfahr from hiding or selling assets that Santa Cruz County attorneys say were likely paid for with stolen public funds.

But Gutfahr's lawyer explained that everything was so frozen that the Gutfahrs had difficulty providing for the basic necessities of life.

Gutfahr's lawyer John Saffer says: “Forget about the cost of a lawyer. Right now she can't just walk across the street and buy herself lunch.”

Santa Cruz County attorneys say each account could contain stolen funds, as millions of dollars have disappeared over a ten-year period. And regarding Gutfahr's lack of cash for basic living expenses, attorney Ben Reeves says:

“Their fraud has deprived the county of the ability to provide basic public infrastructure. So when you say I need basic services, that's a slap in the face.”

Judge Wayne Yehling persuaded attorneys for both sides to agree to allow the Gutfahrs to withdraw two thousand dollars a month from an account owned by Gutfahr's husband.

There are no criminal charges in this case, but the attorneys in these hearings speak as if they expect Gutfahr to face criminal charges. The FBI is investigating and has already seized several cars that belonged to Gutfahr.