O.J. Simpson’s adult children have spent about $500,000 scooping up St. Petersburg properties over the last two years and lawyers are starting to ask questions, according to a New York Post report.
Sydney Simpson, 31, and Justin Simpson, 28, own 13 homes and apartments in low-income areas of St. Pete, and nearly all of them were purchased in cash.
Lawyers representing the families of murder victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman said they are digging deeper to figure out just how the children of the recently liberated Simpson were able to pay for all the properties.
Though Simpson was found not guilty of the two murders in criminal court, he was found liable in a civil trial and the court put a $33.5 million judgement against him. He hasn’t put much of a dent into that debt in the years since mostly because many of his assets, such as his NFL pension, are protected.
If he handed over some cash to his children, however, that could be a “fraudulent conveyance” according to David Cook, a lawyer representing Goldman’s father.
“The first stop is to unearth the records and testimony of the family members to ensure that the source of the equity to acquire the real property is free of any taint,” Cook said.
Even if lawyers are able to track the money trail back to O.J. Simpson, it may be difficult to stick it to him under Florida law, which is generally advantageous to debtors.
“If [Simpson’s protected money] is an exempt asset, then it remains an exempt asset [even if given away], generally speaking,” said Curtis Cassner, vice chairman of the Florida State Bar’s Wills, Trusts & Estates Certification Committee.
One of the homes owned by Sydney Simpson is viewable on the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s website, as is one of the homes owned by Justin. Both homes are homesteaded according to county records.
