Windsor attorney convicted of taking $500,000 from family trust

An attorney was convicted in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa on Tuesday after he pleaded no contest to stealing more than $500,000 from a family’s trust he had been managing.

Michael Voorhees of Windsor reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to six counts of grand theft during a hearing before Judge Mark Urioste.

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 4 and, per his plea agreement, could be ordered to serve a year behind bars plus three years of probation.

Voorhees’ attorney, Martin Woods, said his client has taken measures on behalf of the victims to “make these people whole.”

“Restitution will be paid 100%,” Woods said.

Voorhees was arrested Jan. 11, 2023 on suspicion of stealing money from trusts he co-managed with Richard Holm, a real estate investor who died in May 2022.

A family member told The Press Democrat last year Voorhees was Holm’s lawyer, business partner and friend of over 40 years.

A criminal complained filed by prosecutors indicates about $550,000 was stolen between February 2016 and February 2020.

The filing identifies several of Holm’s family members as victims and says the theft was discovered in May 2022.

Last year, they told The Press Democrat Voorhees had failed to provide financial statements they’d requested over the years.

He provided bank statements three weeks after Holm died and resigned from the trust on May 24, 2022. Statements showed something was amiss and police were notified, family members said.

Following his arrest, Voorhees pleaded not guilty to the allegations of grand theft.

He was scheduled to attend a preliminary hearing in Sonoma County Superior Court in September but waived the hearing.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi