California lawyer and former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills actor Tom Girardi has been found guilty of embezzling $15 million in settlement funds from clients.
Girardi was convicted of four counts of wire fraud at the federal courthouse in Los Angeles by a jury of his peers on August 27.
The 85-year-old will be sentenced on December 6 and faces up to 80 years in jail, 20 years for each offence.
Girardi is the husband of Erika Jayne, who also stars in the same show. He was accused of doing a reverse Robin Hood by deceiving clients and pilfering funds in personal injury cases to spend money on luxury private jets and golf club memberships.
United States attorney Martin Estrada said, “Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a ‘Champion of Justice.’ In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support a lavish Hollywood lifestyle.”
Inspiration for Erin Brokovich
Girardi, now disbarred, worked on the 1993 groundwater contamination lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric which inspired the 2000 Hollywood film, Erin Brokovich.
According to the US Attorney’s office, he was once a powerful figure in California’s legal community, running the Girardi Keese law firm, which was forced into involuntary bankruptcy in 2020. He was disbarred by the state bar of California in July 2022.
Reality show
His legal battles with his estranged wife, Jayne, become a storyline in the Housewives of Beverly Hills show, and a docuseries on the couple also came out in 2021 titled “The Housewife and the Hustler”.
The trial
At the trial, which took place over 13 days, Girardi blamed his now-defunct law firm’s chief financial officer Christopher Kamon, accusing him of deceiving clients.
Kamon has also been charged with wire fraud and he has pleaded not guilty. His trial in Los Angeles is set for January and he faces separate charges of embezzling $10 million from the law firm. He is alleged to have spent the money on renovating his home, buying sports cars and carousing with escorts.