Raquel Petersen alleges Maricopa County assessor hid and spent their money for his own benefit. Prosecutors have seized both their assets as potential restitution
By Brahm Resnik | 12 News
The wife of suspended Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen has filed for divorce, accusing her husband of hiding and spending their money for his own benefit, 12 News has learned.
Raquel Petersen is seeking the divorce after 13 years of marriage.
She also wants custody of the couple’s four children, ages 3 to 11, according to the divorce filing in Maricopa County Family Court.
Raquel Petersen says the marriage is “irretrievably broken and without a reasonable prospect of reconciliation.”
The divorce filing comes as Paul Petersen fights more than 60 felony charges in an alleged 3-state adoption scheme. He also appealing his four-month, unpaid suspension as county assessor.
“Arizona recognizes a claim for community waste where one spouse engages in excessive expenditures of community funds or improperly uses funds on services or people that did not benefit the community, e.g. an extramarital affair or prostitution. However, the practical reality is that even a valid and successful community waste claim will only get you so far if there are no assets available in the marital estate to satisfy the waste claim.
“Proving this type of claim may require the expertise of a third party professional such as a forensic accountant or a private investigator. And, while each case is different, in the end, you may end up spending more money proving this type of claim than you will recover.”
~ Audra Petrolle
