Court Action Seeks Financial Guardian for Businessman : Camarillo: His ex-wife wants a conservator named for Dick Weisse, saying he has ‘squandered’ millions of dollars.

The former wife of Camarillo business executive Dick Weisse--who allegedly told deputies that he was shot and robbed of cash and cocaine at his home last week--is seeking to have a conservator appointed to handle his financial affairs.

In a petition filed in March in Ventura County Superior Court, Sharyl Owen of Camarillo says that during the past few years her ex-husband has “squandered a substantial portion of what was a large estate through questionable investment decisions and other spending habits.”

Owen’s attorney, Philip G. Panitz, declined to specify how much money Weisse has spent, except to say the amount is “in the millions.”

The petition asks Judge Robert R. Willard to appoint Mike McCormick, Weisse’s accountant for several years, as his conservator.

Weisse, 48, and Owen were co-founders in 1973 of Power-One, an electrical equipment manufacturer in Camarillo that now employs 750 people and has annual sales of $49 million.

A company executive said Weisse has not taken an active role in the company for several years and is in the process of divesting his remaining company stock. Court papers say Weisse owns 25% of Power-One.

Weisse could not be reached for comment, but he has said he plans to represent himself in contesting the court action, Panitz said. A hearing on the case scheduled for Tuesday was postponed until Sept. 28 because of the shooting early Friday.

Weisse was discharged Tuesday from Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, where he was treated for a shoulder wound.

Ventura County sheriff’s investigators said two men entered Weisse’s home in the Santa Rosa Valley about 1 a.m. Friday, robbed Weisse and his 18-year-old girlfriend of cash and cocaine, and shot Weisse before fleeing.

The girlfriend, Roni Hollingshead of Simi Valley, was cited on suspicion of possessing cocaine and of being under the influence of cocaine. An investigation is continuing to determine whether Weisse also will be charged, a sheriff’s official said Tuesday.

Panitz said Owen filed the conservatorship petition out of concern for her ex-husband. Her sworn statement says Weisse behaves erratically around family members and “his conversations with them are largely incoherent.”

Weisse “is not eating properly” and he has lost weight and looks gaunt and unhealthy, the affidavit says.

Court papers say Weisse obtained a $2-million loan from Power-One, posting some of his stock as collateral. Even so, the court papers say, Weisse has “consistently neglected to keep current in many important required expenditures, such as mortgage payments, automobile payments and medical insurance.”

Efforts by family and friends to help him manage his affairs “have been unsuccessful,” the affidavit says, “as evidenced by the apparent disappearance of several hundred thousand dollars from his bank account.”

“He has nothing to show for all the money that’s been distributed to him,” Panitz said.