Latest news with #Ponzi-scheme
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tom Girardi Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Embezzling Millions From Clients
Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in federal prison for embezzling 'tens of millions of dollars' of settlement money that belonged to his clients. Girardi was disbarred in California in July 2022. 'This self-proclaimed 'champion of justice' was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of the millions of dollars,' said United States Attorney Bill Essayli in a statement. More from Rolling Stone Sean Combs' Accuser Thalia Graves Wins Fight to Dismiss Bodyguard's Defamation Suit Sean Combs Trial: Hotel Security Guard Details Alleged $100,000 Bribe for Cassie Assault Video Haley Joel Osment Ordered to 3 AA Meetings Per Week After Public Intoxication Arrest District Judge Josephine L. Staton also ordered Girardi, 86, to pay a $35,000 fine and $2,310,247 in restitution, and said he must surrender to federal authorities no later than July 17. In August 2024, a jury convicted Girardi on all four counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors said Girardi diverted money from accounts of his now-shuttered law firm Girardi & Keese to pay for private jet travel, luxury cars, jewelry, memberships to exclusive golf and social clubs, and more than $25 million in expenses for Jayne's company EJ Global. Former clients were initially impressed by Girardi's work in helping secure the famed $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric that inspired in the 2000 movie Erin Brockovich starring Julia Roberts, the Los Angeles Times reported. Prosecutors accused Girardi of operating his firm like a Ponzi-scheme from October 2010 to late 2020 by lying to clients and instructing law firm employees to make incremental payments of newly obtained settlement funds to previously defrauded clients. 'Mr. Girardi, once a self-proclaimed 'legal legend' who purported to fight corporate greed, will now find himself on the opposite end of justice as he serves out his lengthy prison sentence,' Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement following Girardi's sentencing on Tuesday. 'Years of hard work went into this case by agents and prosecutors motivated to pursue justice for the victims who were betrayed by Girardi after putting their trust in his corrupt law firm in their time of need and while enduring personal hardship.' Best of Rolling Stone Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best The United States of Weed Gaming Levels Up
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'RHOBH' alum Tom Girardi sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for embezzling tens of millions of dollars
Tom Girardi, the famed personal injury attorney who was depicted in the Oscar-winning movie Erin Brockovich and is also the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, has been sentenced to more than seven years behind bars for bilking his clients out of millions of dollars. The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California announced Tuesday that Girardi, who was disbarred in 2022, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for leading an embezzlement scheme that defrauded his clients of tens of millions of dollars, much of it meant for treatment for serious physical injuries. Girardi, 86, was also ordered to pay a $35,000 fine and more than $2 million in restitution, and to surrender to federal authorities by July 17. "This self-proclaimed 'champion of justice' was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of the millions of dollars," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher added, "This sentencing brings a level of recompense for countless victims of Mr. Girardi's long-running scheme to enrich himself on the backs of clients who trusted him in some of their worst days." An attorney for Girardi didn't immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. Girardi was indicted on charges of stealing more than $18 million from clients in 2023 and found guilty on four counts of wire fraud last August. The 13-day trial found that the disgraced attorney operated his firm, Girardi Keese, "like a Ponzi-scheme," federal prosecutors said, diverting millions won from settlements toward unrelated expenditures between 2010 and 2020. Families of victims of tragedies like a 2018 Lion Air plane crash, for example, were awarded millions in cases fought by Girardi and his co-conspirators, but said they never saw the Girardi Keese CFO Christopher Kazuo Kamon pleaded guilty two two counts of wire fraud in October, was sentenced to 121 months in custody, and was ordered to pay nearly $9 million in restitution. Another Girardi Keese lawyer and Girardi's son-in-law, David R. Lira, is expected to stand trial next month. Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in 2020 and the couple remain legally separated, though their divorce has not been finalized. Jayne was not implicated in last year's verdict against her ex, but federal prosecutors said during Girardi's trial that among the misappropriated funds, $25 million went to EJ Global, a company founded by Jayne to finance her entertainment career. Girardi and Jayne were jointly hit by a lawsuit alleging embezzlement in 2020, but she was dismissed from the case in 2022. Though the law firm which brought the suit, Edelson PC, claimed at the time of Jayne's dismissal that it planned to refile, a new suit has yet to materialize. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
USA Today
3 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Tom Girardi sentenced to more than 7 years in prison after stealing millions from clients
Tom Girardi sentenced to more than 7 years in prison after stealing millions from clients Show Caption Hide Caption Tom Girardi indicted for client theft Tom Girardi, co-founder of the defunct Los Angeles law firm Girardi-Keese, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly embezzling more than $15 million from several of his legal clients. Fox - LA Tom Girardi, estranged husband of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne, has received his prison sentence for stealing millions of dollars from his clients. The 86-year-old former personal injury attorney, who was disbarred in 2022, was sentenced in California federal court to more than seven years in prison on June 3. The sentencing comes nine months after a Los Angeles jury convicted him on four counts of wire fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton also ordered Girardi to pay $2,310,247 in restitution on top of a $35,000 fine. Girardi must turn himself in to authorities by July 17. 'Robin Hood in reverse': What to know about Girardi's criminal conviction USA TODAY has reached out to Girardi's attorneys for comment. "This self-proclaimed 'champion of justice' was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of the millions of dollars," U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. Girardi, described by the U.S. Attorney's Office as a "once-powerful figure in California's legal community," was partner at the since-shuttered Los Angeles law firm Girardi Keese. Per the office's statement, he "operated Girardi Keese like a Ponzi-scheme by providing a litany of lies for failure to pay clients" from 2010 to 2020. He used tens of millions of dollars to "pay illegitimate expenses, including more than $25 million," that was diverted to EJ Global, Erika Jayne's company, per prosecutors. Jayne and Girardi announced their split in 2020.
