Tom Girardi, a once-celebrated attorney and estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, was found guilty on Tuesday of embezzling millions from his clients after a nearly two-week trial in Los Angeles.
The 85-year-old Girardi was convicted on four counts of wire fraud, involving the misappropriation of funds from clients, some of whom were awaiting compensation for serious injuries, as reported by federal prosecutors.
Tom Girardi, a once-celebrated attorney and Erika Jayne
Girardi, who led the now-defunct Girardi Keese law firm, was accused of systematically stealing from client trust accounts over a decade, from October 2010 until late 2020. Prosecutors described how he fabricated numerous excuses to cover up his thefts, including deceitful claims about settlement payments and fabricated procedural delays.
The misappropriated funds, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, were diverted to extravagant expenditures. This included over $25 million spent on EJ Global, a company owned by Jayne, as well as private jet travel, luxury automobiles, high-end jewelry, and memberships to exclusive social clubs, according to the prosecution.
By late 2020, Girardi Keese faced bankruptcy, and Girardi himself was disbarred in 2022. U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada criticized Girardi for falsely presenting himself as a “Champion of Justice” while exploiting his clients for a lavish lifestyle. “Today’s verdict exposes him for what he truly was—a fraud who betrayed those in need,” Estrada stated.
During the trial, Girardi’s defense attempted to shift blame to Chris Kamon, the firm’s CFO, who is separately charged. They also claimed Girardi’s alleged Alzheimer’s disease rendered him incompetent for trial, a notion prosecutors dismissed as an exaggeration.
Girardi, under conservatorship by his brother, faces up to 80 years in federal prison and is also confronting separate wire fraud charges in Chicago related to a $3 million theft from victims’ families of a 2018 plane crash. Sentencing is set for December 6.
