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 on charges he stole more than $18 million from clients, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Girardi, 83, who once played a supporting role on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” which starred his now-estranged wife Erika Jayne, was disbarred last summer for siphoning client funds.
Girardi and Jayne married in 2000 and in 2020 Jayne filed for divorce.
The charges announced Wednesday are the latest legal blow to a once-powerful player who rubbed elbows with politicians and celebrities.Girardi was known for high-profile litigation such as the case that led to a $333 million settlement portrayed in the movie “Erin Brockovich.”
“He claimed to be fighting for those less fortunate,” Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference. “But our investigation has revealed that behind this public persona, (he was) committing fraud on a massive of scale.”
The schemes included swindling a Los Angeles couple whose son was paralyzed in a car wreck, an Arizona widow whose husband died when a boat unexpectedly sped up to 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) and flipped, and family members of victims in a 2018 Lion Air crash that killed 189 people, according to the indictments.
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