Olivia Simon Guilty Ewp.57 Site
Prosecutor Dana Whitford laid out a devastating timeline. Simon, a former wealth manager and court-appointed guardian, was entrusted with the estate of 87-year-old retired neurologist Dr. Helena Voss. Dr. Voss had no living relatives and named Simon as both her power of attorney and primary beneficiary in a 2021 will.
"Olivia Simon did not care for Dr. Voss," Whitford said in her closing statement. "She collected her. She isolated a brilliant woman with the beginnings of mild cognitive impairment, manipulated her medications, and systematically drained a lifetime of savings under the legal cover of 'care expenses.' Ewp.57 exists precisely for predators in cardigans." Olivia Simon Guilty Ewp.57
The charge, —formally titled "Exploitation of a Vulnerable Person Through Position of Trust for Financial and Emotional Gain"—is a relatively new statute, but one that legal experts say is becoming a cornerstone in complex domestic and fiduciary crime cases. Conviction carries a mandatory minimum of five years in state custody and a lifetime ban from holding any position of financial guardianship. The Case Behind the Code For those who have followed the case, the verdict is less a surprise and more a long-delayed reckoning. Prosecutor Dana Whitford laid out a devastating timeline
The evidence was largely paper-based: $340,000 in "consulting fees" to a shell company Simon owned, the sale of Dr. Voss’s heirloom piano for $80 (later traced to Simon’s personal storage unit), and 147 forged signatures on checks made out to "cash." Voss," Whitford said in her closing statement
Outside the courthouse, Prosecutor Whitford offered a brief statement: "This isn't a victory. It's a stopgap. Helena Voss trusted the wrong person. My hope is that Ewp.57 sends a clear message: exploiting the elderly is not a breach of ethics. It is a crime. And we will see you in court."
But the prosecution argued that this relationship was built on a lie.