VENTURA, CA - District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today the filing of a complaint charging Geoffrey Charles Sjostrom (DOB 09-25-1954), of Simi Valley, with nine felony charges, including multiple counts of grand theft, perjury, forgery, and the aggravated white collar crime enhancement. The prosecution of Sjostrom resulted from an investigation by the Simi Valley Police Department.

Sjostrom was a friend of Francis J. Copland, who died in 2005. Before Copland died, he prepared a trust and a will, naming Sjostrom to administer both. In his estate documents, Copland left all of his property to family members. After Copland’s death, Sjostrom failed to probate Copland’s will and failed to properly account for Copland’s trust property.

The probate court removed Sjostrom as trustee and ordered him to account for Copland’s property. Sjostrom filed a sworn declaration claiming Copland had exhausted his bank accounts when he died, but a successor trustee discovered this information was false. The trustee found that Copland had money in various accounts when he died and that Sjostrom methodically stole more than $250,000 from those accounts by means of check and ATM withdrawals.

On February 13, 2012, Sjostrom was arrested and remains in custody with bail set at $200,000. Arraignment is set for February 14, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Division 12. If convicted of all charges Sjostrom faces up to 11 years in state prison.