'RHOBH' Star Erika Jayne's Estranged Husband Tom Girardi Found Guilty of Embezzling More Than $15Million From Clients: 'He Was a Robin Hood-in-Reverse'
Erika Jayne's estranged husband Tom Girardi was convicted of four counts of wire fraud on Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.
Aug. 27 2024, Published 4:15 p.m. ET
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne's estranged husband has been found guilty of embezzling at least $15million from his clients between 2010 and 2020.
RadarOnline.com can reveal disgraced attorney Tom Girardi, 85, was convicted of four counts of wire fraud on Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement after the conviction: "Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a 'Champion of Justice'.
Girardi was accused of stealing settlement funds from his clients to pay for his and Jayne's lavish lifestyle.
"In reality, he was a Robin Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support a lavish, Hollywood lifestyle. Today's verdict shows that the game is up – we can all now see this defendant for what he was and the victims he callously betrayed."
The guilty verdict comes after the 53-year-old RHOBH star's estranged husband was accused of running a 10-year Ponzi scheme in which his clients were defrauded out of millions of dollars in settlement funds.
Each count Girardi was found guilty of reportedly carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
As RadarOnline.com reported, Girardi was disbarred in July 2022 and charged with wire fraud in February 2023.
Prosecutors alleged the disgraced lawyer stole the money from his clients and used it to fund his lavish lifestyle – including private jets, jewelry, a Pasadena mansion and other luxuries aligned with Jayne's celebrity status.
Girardi occasionally starred alongside Jayne on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
The allegations against the former personal injury attorney were the focus of the 2021 Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Hustler.
According to federal prosecutors, Girardi "misappropriated and embezzled millions" from his clients between October 2010 and late 2020.
Among the victims Girardi stole from were families of the victims in the October 2018 Lion Air Flight crash – which left 189 people dead.
His guilty verdict on Tuesday came after Girardi long denied the allegations against him.
Charles Snyder, the federal public defender representing Jayne's husband, claimed Girardi's "cognitive impairment worsened" after his diagnoses with both dementia and Alzheimer's disease in March 2021.
Snyder also claimed other members of his client's now-defunct Girardi Keese law firm stole funds "hand over fist" over the 10 years in question.
The federal public defender said: "Girardi was not paying close attention. He got old, got sick, and lost his mind."
Jayne was accused of bleeding her estranged husband's estate dry ahead of his guilty conviction on four counts of wire fraud.
But federal prosecutors argued Girardi intentionally defrauded his clients out of the more than $15million in settlement funds between 2010 and 2020.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas said: "He wanted the outside world to believe he was fighting for people who couldn't help themselves."
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Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, added: "Mr. Girardi was retained to advocate for clients who put their trust in him, but instead, lied to them and stole their money to fund his lavish lifestyle.
"Girardi falsely promoted himself in the media as a pillar of the legal community with a heightened sense of justice, but the clients he wronged for many years have now found actual justice in today’s verdict."
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