Disbarred high-profile lawyer Tom Girardi was convicted of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from clients on Tuesday after a nearly two-week trial in Los Angeles.
Girardi, the 85-year-old estranged husband of “Real House of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, was convicted by a jury of four counts of wire fraud for embezzling from various clients, including one who was waiting on medical bills for a severe disability. Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Girardi, once a leading figure in California's legal profession and now president of the defunct law firm Girardi Keith, misappropriated and embezzled millions of dollars from the firm's client trust accounts for years, prosecutors said during the 13-day trial.
Between October 2010 and late 2020, Girardi stole millions of dollars in client settlements,
To explain his failure to make payments to clients, he recited a “little saga,” including falsely denying that payments had been made in settlements and lying to clients that he couldn't pay them until bogus conditions were met, according to prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Prosecutors said tens of millions of dollars stolen from Jain's law firm operating accounts were used for fraudulent expenses, including more than $25 million for EJ Global, a company Jain founded. Some of the funds were used for private jet travel, luxury cars, jewelry, golf and social clubs, according to a press release from prosecutors.
As a result of various legal battles by the end of 2020, Girardi Keith was forced into involuntary bankruptcy and Girardi was disbarred from practicing law in California in 2022.
“Tom Girardi lured victims with his celebrity status, falsely portraying himself as a 'champion of justice,'” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement after the sentencing. “In reality, he was a reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor to support his lavish Hollywood lifestyle. Today's sentence marks the end of the game. We now understand who this defendant was and the victims he coldly betrayed.”
The Hill has reached out to Girardi's lawyer for comment.
During the trial, Girardi's lawyers tried to pin the blame for the scheme on Chris Kamon, the chief financial officer of Girardi's company, but Kamon was charged separately and has pleaded not guilty, The Associated Press reported.
Girardi's lawyers also argued that he is incompetent to stand trial because of Alzheimer's disease and memory problems, but that prosecutors have exaggerated his condition, according to the news agency. Girardi is under conservatorship under his brother.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, showed jurors voicemails in which Girardi lied to his clients about why they had not been paid and frequently said, “Don't be mad at me,” the report said.
Girardi, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 6, could face up to 80 years in federal prison on the four charges.
He also faces federal wire fraud charges in Chicago for allegedly stealing nearly $3 million from families of victims of the Lion Air crash in 2018 that killed 189 people, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed.
