Tom Girardi has been indicted by a grand jury and charged with five counts of wire fraud. According to Page Six, the Department of Justice announced that the disbarred attorney allegedly embezzled approximately $15 million from clients. Tom reportdly used the ill-gotten gains to fund payroll and personal expenses.
But Erika Jayne’s ex was not operating alone. Christopher Kazuo Kamon, the former chief financial officer and controller at Tom’s law firm Girardi Keese, was accused of lying to clients regarding their settlement funds.
Details of how the pair operated has been outlined by the DOJ. Tom and Christopher supposedly told clients they could not receive their settlement until other requirements were resolved. These requirements included resolving purported tax obligations, medical liens, and other debts. Also, clients were told authorizations from judges were needed.
In one instance, Tom obtained a $17.5 million settlement for a client who was paralyzed in a car crash. The financial compensation was awarded in July 2019. Yet the alleged victim never received the full amount. Some of the payout, totalling $5,119,449 was allegedly deposited into a bank account that Tom controlled.
RELATED: Erika Jayne Is Deposed In $25 Million Bankruptcy Lawsuit Over Tom Girardi’s Finances
Tom’s alleged accomplice is in federal custody, while Tom remains at a senior living facility in Orange Country, California. Due to his declining health from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, Tom brother, Robert Girardi functions as his conservator.
Robert’s lawyer did not respond to Page Six‘s request for comment.
According to the DOJ’s press release, Tom could be facing up to 20 years in prison. This is due to the involvement of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation agency in his case.
“Thomas Vincent Girardi should have been a pillar to our community. Instead, he is accused of creating an elaborate scheme to mislead his clients, victimizing them for a second time,” Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office said in a statement.
Mr. Hatcher added, “Attorneys are put in a position of trust when they represent us during some of our most difficult times. Mistrust in the legal profession grows when clients can’t trust their attorneys to pay them the settlements intended to make them whole.”
He concluded, “IRS Criminal Investigation, along with federal prosecutors and our law enforcement partners, will continue to seek to keep the legal profession honest.”
The State Bar of California has been questioned for ignoring hundreds of complaints filed against Tom. The lack of action resulted in “serious failures” that supposedly should have seen Tom disbarred.
Chairperson Ruben Duran of the State Bar’s Board of Trustees made a statement on the matter in November 2022. As reported by Page Six, he said, “[He] caused irreparable harm to hundreds of his clients, and the State Bar could have done more to protect the public. We can never allow something like this to happen again.”
TELL US- WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE INDICTMENT? WILL TOM GO TO PRISON? HOW DO YOU THINK THIS WILL AFFECT ERIKA?
[Photo Credit: Photo by Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images]
