Brickbat: Minimum Effort
(Paul Hakimata | Dreamstime.com)
Former Santa Cruz County, Arizona, Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr was sentenced to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to embezzling over $38 million in public funds over 10 years, in what her own attorney called "one of the dumbest, ill-conceived, short-sighted, and most audacious crimes in Arizona state history." Her scheme involved moving taxpayer money into her private accounts with little effort to hide it, yet it went unnoticed until recently, when her bank noticed irregular activities in 2024 and alerted law enforcement. To recover some of the stolen funds, Santa Cruz County is selling off assets like real estate, livestock, and luxury cars Gutfahr purchased, recovering nearly $3 million so far.