LOS ANGELES – Disgraced ex-lawyer Tom Girardi, once celebrated for winning massive settlements, has been indicted by federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Chicago for stealing more than $18 million from clients, prosecutors said on Wednesday with
The charges are the latest legal blow to a once-powerful player who has rubbed elbows with politicians and celebrities. As one of the nation’s most prominent attorneys, Girardi was known for high-profile litigation, such as the case that resulted in a $333 million settlement portrayed in the film Erin Brockovich.
With a weekly radio show called Champions of Justice, Girardi took a stand against big corporations for people harmed by pollution, medical products and cars. At the same time, however, he robbed some of those clients, US Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference in Los Angeles.
“He claimed to fight for the less fortunate,” Estrada said. “But our investigation has revealed that behind this public figure fraud was committed on a large scale.”
The plans included the scams of a Los Angeles couple whose son was paralyzed in a car accident, an Arizona widow whose husband died when a boat unexpectedly accelerated to 120 miles per hour and overturned, and family members of victims in one 2018 Lion Air crash which according to the indictment killed 189 people.
Girardi, 83, who once played a supporting role in Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which starred his now estranged wife Erika Jayne, was disfellowshipped last summer for skimming client funds. His company Girardi Keese in Los Angeles is bankrupt and he is said to have dementia and is under judicial care.
US prosecutors in Chicago said Girardi, his attorney, son-in-law and their firm’s chief financial officer, accepted funds on behalf of five clients who reached settlements with Boeing, makers of the 737 Max, operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air and scheduled to fly on April 27. October plunged into the Java Sea in September 2018, killing 189 people.
“The substantial embezzlement alleged in this indictment increased the grief and anxiety of clients who lost loved ones in the Lion Air crash,” said John Lausch, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
A Chicago law firm involved in the Lion Air case last year filed a racketeering lawsuit alleging that Girardi and his associates were essentially running a Ponzi scheme and stolen $100 million from their clients, lawyers , with whom they worked, and others were deducted.
“The real story seems like a story out of a John Grisham novel: Girardi Keese was little more than a criminal enterprise disguised as a law firm,” reads the lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles law firm Edelson. “In fact, as we now know, the Girardi Keese company operated the largest criminal racketeering operation in the history of plaintiffs.”
Girardi made his name and his money by taking on powerful corporations and public institutions, including Hollywood’s major film studios, Lockheed, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Pacific Gas and Electric in one case, the “Erin Brockovich,” the 2000’s Julia, inspired Robert’s film about a California desert community whose water has been poisoned. Girardi acted as a consultant on the Oscar-winning film.
“This particular case has revolutionized how people think about all the toxic things they’re exposed to,” he told Attorney at Law magazine in 2015.
Girardi married Jayne in 2000. She became a member of the cast of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in which he made several appearances. He spent considerable money to fund her unsuccessful musical career.
Jayne filed for divorce in 2020.
While Girardi’s legal and financial woes have only surfaced publicly in recent years, customers have filed more than 200 complaints against him over four decades, the State Bar of California revealed in November. Almost 60% of complaints involved accounts set up to protect client funds.
He had never been publicly punished until his release in June.
Ruben Duran, the chairman of the bar’s board of trustees, issued a mea culpa for “grave errors” in its disciplinary system.
“No apologies are offered here,” Duran wrote. “Girardi has caused irreparable harm to hundreds of his clients and prosecutors could have done more to protect the public. We can never allow something like this to happen again.”
An ongoing investigation by an outside law firm is looking into whether Girardi’s influence or connections at the bar helped him evade discipline for the unusual number of complaints.
Girardi and attorney David Lira, 62, his son-in-law, and the firm’s CFO, Christopher Kamon, face eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court in Chicago.
Girardi and Kamon, 49, face wire fraud charges in Los Angeles for embezzling more than $15 million from customers, prosecutors said.
In a case detailed in LA’s indictment, Girardi settled a $53 million case involving a man who was badly burned in a 2010 PG&E gas line explosion in San Bruno, California .
More than half of the settlement was then embezzled and a portion was used to pay expenses, fixed liabilities and other clients whose funds had also been embezzled. Payments to the fire victim, meanwhile, have been delayed through a variety of delaying tactics.
When asked how an Alzheimer’s diagnosis given to Girardi in his conservatorship case would affect the criminal process, Estrada said it was for the court to assess his mental competency.
“The indictment alleges misconduct over a 10-year period,” he said. “When Mr Girardi was a practicing lawyer, we believe the evidence shows that he was competent at that time.”
Girardi is expected to appear in US District Court in Los Angeles on Monday. Indictments were scheduled for February 7 in Chicago.
Kamon, who is in custody, has pleaded not guilty to another count of fraud alleging he embezzled funds from a law firm to renovate two homes in the LA area, pay for shopping sprees and hire an escort .
Girardi and Kamon’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lira’s attorney said his client was innocent and would plead not guilty and face the charges.
“David Lira was not involved in any fraud scheme,” attorney Damon Cheronis said in an email. “Mr. Lira is a respected lawyer and has been for over three decades.”
___
Foody reported from Chicago. Associated Press journalist Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed without permission.
