Erika Jayne's Husband Bankruptcy Shocker: AMEX Hit With $50 Million Lawsuit Over Alleged ‘Fraudulent Transfers’ Made By Disgraced Lawyer
Jan. 11 2023, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
A bombshell lawsuit has been filed demanding American Express return $50 million that the now-defunct law firm once run by Erika Jayne’s husband Tom Girardi paid the credit card company, RadarOnline.com has learned.
As RadarOnline.com has previously reported, the once-respected attorney Girardi and his firm Girardi Keese were forced into bankruptcy back in 2020. Many of his former clients accused him of running his firm like a Ponzi scheme.
Girardi stands accused of embezzling money from his clients to fund his lavish lifestyle with Jayne. The Bravo star has denied all allegations that she knew of Girardi’s alleged improper activities.
As part of Chapter 7, Jayne was hit with a $25 million lawsuit demanding she pays back money Girardi Keese spent on bills for her company EJ Global. The RHOBH has moved to dismiss the lawsuit claiming she did nothing wrong.
Now, according to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the trustee presiding over the firm’s bankruptcy has filed a lawsuit against American Express claiming Girardi made payments to them at a time when he knew he owed creditors.
“During a time when Girardi Keese was in a precarious financial state, and was not paying its creditors, Girardi Keese began a systematic process of draining the available cash, oftentimes consisting of stolen client trust funds, by, among other things, making distributions to certain preferred creditors or third parties from funds of Girardi Keese’s estate,” the suit said.
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“A principal manner in which the fraud and conspiracy of Thomas and Girardi Keese was able to operate and flourish was by obtaining numerous credit cards from Defendants, often times in the names of employees and non-employees, for personal use by Girardi Keese employees, Thomas, his friends, family, and associates. Far and away, the largest single credit card company used by Thomas and Girardi Keese was AMEX,” the suit reads.
The trustee said Jayne received numerous cards along with her son from her first marriage and various employees of Girardi.
In the seven-year period prior to the bankruptcy, Girardi Keese made 767 payments to AMEX totaling $50 million. “ith respect to the Fraudulent Transfers, no less than the amount of $9,079,528 was on account of purchases that solely benefitted Thomas, Erika, and their family members and friends, and had no relation to the operation of, and did not benefit, Girardi Keese,” the suit read.
The suit demands AMEX return the $50 million it received from Girardi. Any recovered funds would be used to repay creditors of Girardi's firm.