Felony Justice
Disbarred lawyer and estranged husband of ‘Actual Housewives’ star is charged with stealing $18M; is he competent for trial?
Tom Girardi was disbarred in June 2022. Photograph by Sipa USA through the Related Press.
Disbarred plaintiffs’ lawyer Tom Girardi has been federally indicted in Chicago and Los Angeles for allegedly embezzling greater than $18 million from purchasers.
Girardi, 83, is the estranged husband of Erika Girardi, who appeared on The Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills actuality TV present. He was additionally an adviser to the film Erin Brockovich and a part of the profitable authorized group portrayed within the movie that sued over contaminated groundwater, based on the New York Instances. His now-defunct California legislation agency was Girardi Keese.
In Los Angeles, Girardi is charged with 5 counts of wire fraud for allegedly embezzling greater than $15 million from a number of purchasers, based on a Feb. 1 press release summarizing an indictment unsealed Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that he negotiated settlements on behalf of purchasers after which lied about how a lot cash he recovered and the way the proceeds had been distributed.
Settlement cash was used to pay different purchasers whose funds had been misappropriated, to pay Girardi Keese’s payroll and to pay bank card payments for Girardi’s private bills, prosecutors alleged.
In Chicago, Girardi is charged with eight counts of wire fraud and 4 counts of felony contempt, based on a Feb. 1 press release. He’s accused of misappropriating greater than $3 million in settlement funds for 5 family members of victims killed within the October 2018 crash of Indonesia’s Lion Air Flight 610.
Additionally charged in Chicago are former Girardi Keese lawyer David R. Lira, 62, and former Girardi Keese controller and chief monetary officer Christopher Kazuo Kamon, 49. They’re charged with eight counts of wire fraud and 4 counts of felony contempt of court docket within the Chicago indictment. Kamon can also be accused of working with Girardi to facilitate the embezzlement within the California indictment.
Lira is Girardi’s son-in-law, the New York Times stories.
Different publications overlaying the indictments embrace Law360, Law.com, Reuters, Courthouse News Service and Bloomberg Law.
Kamon was arrested in November on a federal cost of wire fraud when he returned to america from the Bahamas. He was charged in a felony criticism with working a “aspect fraud” scheme at Girardi Keese.
Damon Cheronis, Lira’s lawyer, informed the New York Instances that his shopper will plead not responsible.
“David Lira isn’t Tom Girardi—he didn’t steal from his purchasers and he shouldn’t be criminally charged for Girardi’s misconduct,” Cheronis mentioned.
There could possibly be a court docket battle over Girardi’s health to face trial and his psychological capability when the crimes occurred, given his prognosis of Alzheimer’s illness, Law360 stories.
Throughout a press convention, U.S. Legal professional Martin Estrada of Los Angeles mentioned prosecutors suppose that Girardi was competent throughout the time of the alleged embezzlement, which was from 2010 to 2020.
Felony protection lawyer Frank Perri, an adjunct professor at DePaul College, informed Law360 that defendants discovered incompetent for trial are handled in hopes that they’ll develop into competent. However they is also discovered to be completely unfit.
“I’ve had purchasers in that age group who’ve been discovered unfit and they aren’t ever going to be discovered match,” Perri informed Law360. “It’s simply not going to occur.”
See additionally:
ABAJournal.com: “Litigation lenders bankrolled Tom Girardi regardless of his obvious ‘proclivities’ for stealing from purchasers, swimsuit says”
ABAJournal.com: “‘Actual Housewives’ lawyer had shut ties to some state bar officers, by no means confronted ethics expenses regardless of accusations”
ABAJournal.com: “California bar opened 205 ethics issues about this lawyer, who wasn’t disbarred till this yr”
ABAJournal.com: “Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi’s public sale objects included Persian rugs, bronze statues, holographic Pokémon card”
ABAJournal.com: “Disbarment advisable for Tom Girardi, lawyer whose legislation agency was portrayed in ‘Erin Brockovich’ film”
