Real Housewife of Beverly Hills cast member Erika Jayne’s husband Thomas Girardi is in a Los Angeles federal courtroom facing allegations that he embezzled more than $15 million from his firm’s clients. The 85-year-old attorney and former owner of the downtown Los Angeles law firm Girardi Keese has been sued more than 100 times, according to the L.A. Times. Girardi is currently under a conservatorship handled by his brother due to signs of dementia. During opening statements on August 6, prosecutor Scott Peatty alleged Girardi used his clients’ trust accounts like a “personal piggy bank” to support the “entertainment career” of his wife, Law.com reports. While he and Jayne have been separated since late 2020, their divorce is stalled due to the bankruptcy trial — here’s what to know about the former Housewife husband and the case against him.
Why is Erika Jayne’s husband on trial?
The federal case against Girardi focuses on four of Girardi’s clients — specifically, millions of stolen dollars from his client-settlement fund accounts after he failed to give them the money that was owed to them. The clients, who are expected to testify at trial, include a man who suffered significant burns all over his body from an explosion, a second client who lost her husband in a boating accident, a third client who suffered severe injuries from a defective medical device, and a fourth client who suffered injuries in a car accident. In all cases, the clients received substantial settlement money due to their injuries. The government alleges Girardi embezzled the money and then falsely denied that the settlement proceeds had even been paid.
Girardi is accused of using the money he diverted from his clients’ accounts to pay for illegitimate expenses, including more than $25 million toward Jayne’s business EJ Global’s expenses, according to the federal complaint. Girardi also allegedly used the money to pay for private jets, jewelry, luxury cars, and exclusive golf and social-club memberships. Girardi’s co-defendant is also facing charges for funneling millions from the law firm’s accounts for his own benefit. At the end of 2020, Girardi’s law firm was forced into bankruptcy.
Girardi’s legal team argued that their client was incompetent to stand trial due to dementia following his arrest. Jayne had also frequently mentioned Girardi’s deteriorating mental capacity on her show. Girardi’s family placed him in an assisted-care facility in 2021, and his team alleged that due to his cognitive impairment from Alzheimer’s disease, he was unable to assist his attorney in the defense of the case. The prosecution maintained that Girardi was “feigning or exaggerating symptoms” in an attempt to thwart his trial. In January 2024, after a three-day hearing, the federal judge overseeing the case sided with the prosecution and ruled Girardi was in fact competent to stand trial.
Will Erika Jayne be called to testify?
On RHOBH, Jayne has maintained that she had no knowledge of the alleged fraud and was blindsided when the allegations came out. She met with several victims of the alleged fraud in part two of Hulu’s documentary about Girardi’s alleged crimes, The Housewife and the Hustler 2. In the documentary, Jayne said she found out about the allegations when she was named in a 2019 lawsuit for an unpaid loan alongside her husband. At the time, a lawyer for Girardi called the lawsuit a “publicity stunt.”
“I found out when I was sued in Arizona from a lending company when I was named and that was the first time,” Jayne said. “And I said, ‘Why am I in this lawsuit?’ And the three answers I kept getting were, ‘It’s bullshit, don’t worry about it, I’ve got it handled.’ But why is my name in here? I’m not part of the business?”
Jayne is not part of the case, nor is she on the witness list or expected to testify at this federal trial. She filed for divorce from Girardi in November 2020 after 21 years of marriage. A month later, both Girardi and Jayne were sued in an Illinois lawsuit brought by the widows and orphans who lost family members in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash that killed all 189 individuals onboard. They allege that Girardi embezzled the proceeds of settlements that should have been directed to his clients to continue funding his and his wife’s lavish Beverly Hills lifestyles. That case has been put on hold temporarily while Girardi’s federal trial takes place.
Has Erika Jayne said anything about her husband’s arrest?
In a statement, Evan C. Borges, Jayne’s attorney, maintains that while the account records described the payments as the global expenses of EJ Global — amounting slightly in excess of $25 million — the funds were paid to third parties for alleged business expenses and not directly to Jayne or her company EJ Global. Earlier this year, Jayne said on RHOBH that she hasn’t felt supported by her other castmates, especially when she won an appeal regarding her $750,000 earrings after the district court reversed the turnover order and ordered the bankruptcy trustee to prove the money used to pay for the earrings was actual client trust-fund money. While Jayne implored the ladies to let the legal process play out, Garcelle Beauvais and Crystal Minkoff were not impressed. “I wish she would just let the earrings go and give something back to the victims so that you can sleep at night,” Beauvais said in a confessional on the show. “You need good karma.”
While Jayne will not make an appearance in court, she appears to be traveling on a cast trip for the show to St. Lucia, dancing in Carnival with Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley, and Sutton Stracke. The government plans to call Girardi’s four former clients and an IRS special agent to present exhibits that show the flow of money in his clients’ trust accounts.
How long will Tom Girardi’s trial last?
The trial, which began on Monday, August 5, with jury selection, was followed by opening statements on August 6. The trial is scheduled to last 12 days. Girardi’s case is being heard by a jury of seven men and five women.
What penalty could Tom Girardi face if convicted?
Girardi was arrested on these charges in February of 2023 and ordered to hand over his passport before he was released on a $250,000 bond. Girardi is facing four counts of wire fraud, and each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Girardi has already been disbarred from practicing as a lawyer in California.
