Santa Rosa Police arrested a state attorney on charges of embezzlement and fraud related to the theft of more than $500,000 from his trust funds. control.
Michael Voorhees of Windsor faces seven felony charges, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. This is what Chris Mahurin said on Thursday.
“Based on interviews and evidence obtained from search warrants, investigators believe the suspect illegally wrote checks to himself from the trust accounts,” the statement said. of Mahurin. “This theft is about $500,000 and $600,000”.
Reached by phone Thursday, Voorhees declined comment. His lawyer, Marty Woods, also declined to comment.
Voorhees, who was arrested on January 11, is accused of stealing money from a trust he comanaed with the late Richard Holm, a real estate investor. Holm’s family members believe the theft is worth about $700,000, although the total amount lost could be much higher.
Richard Holm died in May 2022. Voorhees was Holm’s attorney, business partner and friend of more than 40 years, according to Holm’s niece, Jackie Nelson.
“The relationship goes back years and years. Mika’s mother worked for my uncle. It’s sad, sad,” said Nelson.
Holm has been investing in real estate since the 1970s, Nelson said. Nelson, a retired certified public accountant, began helping his uncle with bookkeeping and taxes in 2008.
He said he has requested financial statements from Voorhees over the years, but “he has never been able to provide a financial statement for all the trusts he has seen,” Nelson said. .
His doubts grew, and he and his family hired a lawyer before Holm’s death.
Nelson said Voorhees made bank statements just weeks after his uncle’s death. He then resigned from the faith on May 24, 2022, three weeks after Holm’s death. Nelson said within days of receiving the documents he said were “very clear” and he notified police.
A spokesperson for the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said Voorhees’ case is still under review. He was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.