Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office—Alleged Misuse of Public Monies and Solicitation of Forgery

As part of their responsibility to prevent and detect fraud, Santa Cruz County officials took appropriate action by reporting to us alleged financial misconduct at the Sheriff’s Office. Our investigation revealed that from June 2013 through September 2018, the former sheriff and captain may have violated State laws related to misuse of public monies and solicitation of forgery when they illicitly authorized $196,842 of compensation by directing 77 Sheriff’s Office employees to record 7,220 hours of unworked overtime on their timesheets. We have submitted our report to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for appropriate action.