Elizabeth Gutfahr, the former Santa Cruz County Treasurer, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for embezzling over $38 million from county funds. This sentencing reflects the outcome of a major financial crime case involving the theft of nearly $40 million from taxpayers. Separately, federal authorities have charged four Southern California residents with defrauding the government of $93 million through a COVID-19 tax fraud scheme, which the FBI describes as the largest of its kind in the United States. Additionally, federal prosecutors have brought charges against 11 Eastern Europeans accused of orchestrating a $10.6 billion Medicare fraud operation, marking one of the largest Medicare fraud busts in government history. In another case, a woman from Eureka was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for defrauding Medicare and other insurance companies of more than $1.5 million.