Ex-lawyer Tom Girardi found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars

Disbarred celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi was found guilty Tuesday of embezzling tens of millions of dollars from his clients following a nearly two-week trial in Los Angeles.

Girardi, the 85-year-old estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, was convicted by a jury of four counts of wire fraud for embezzlement of various clients, including some who awaited payment for treatment for severe physical injuries, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Girardi, once a central figure to California’s legal community, was the leader of the now-defunct law firm Girardi Keese, where he spent years misappropriating and embezzling millions of dollars from the firm’s client trust accounts, prosecutors said during the 13-day trial.

From October 2010 until late 2020, Girardi stole millions in client settlement funds and told a “litany of lies” to explain his failure to pay clients the money they were owed. These included falsely denying the settlement processes were paid or that the firm could not pay the proceeds to clients until fake requirements were met, according to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Tens of millions of dollars stolen from his law firm’s operating account went toward illegitimate expenses, including more than $25 million toward expenses for EJ Global, a company formed by Jayne, prosecutors said. Some of the funds went to private jet travel, luxury cars, jewelry, and golf and social clubs, per the prosecution’s press release.

In the wake of various legal battles by the end of 2020, Girardi Keese was forced into involuntary bankruptcy and Girardi was disbarred in California in 2022.

“Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a ‘Champion of Justice,’” U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada said in a statement following the verdict. “In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support of 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 Hill reached out to Girardi’s attorney for comment.

During the trial, Girardi’s defense lawyers tried to blame the scheme on his firm’s chief financial officer, Chris Kamon, who is separately charged and has pleaded not guilty, The Associated Press reported.

His lawyers also argued Girardi was not competent to stand trial due to his Alzheimer’s disease and issues with his memory, which prosecutors claimed was an exaggeration of symptoms, the AP reported. He is in a conservatorship under his brother.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, showed jurors voicemails in which Girardi lied to clients about why they had not been paid and frequently told them, “Don’t be mad at me,” according to the AP.

Girardi, who is slated to be sentenced Dec. 6, faces a maximum of 80 years in federal prison on the four counts.

He is also facing federal wire fraud charges in Chicago over allegations he stole about $3 million from family members of victims of a 2018 Lion Air crash that left 189 people dead, according to the AP.

The Associated Press contributed.