Former legal heavyweight Tom Girardi found guilty of wire fraud in Los Angeles court for embezzling at least $15 million of his clients’ money

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Former top attorney Tom Girardi was convicted Tuesday of running a massive 10-year Ponzi scheme in which prosecutors say he siphoned off at least $15 million in settlement funds from four of his clients.

Jurors convicted Girardi, 85, of four counts of wire fraud for stealing from injured clients and spending money on private jets, golf club memberships, jewelry and the career of his now-estranged wife, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne.

The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon after closing arguments and deliberated for about two hours Tuesday morning before announcing a verdict.

Girardi, of Seal Beach, showed no visible reaction when the verdict was read. He suffers from dementia but was deemed competent to participate in his own defense during the trial and even testified.

U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 6, at which time Girardi faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each of the four counts.

“He even repeatedly presented himself in magazines and other publications as one of the best lawyers in America. He was paid very well for everything he did, but that wasn’t enough for him. He wanted more. His insatiable appetite for money is what brought him to court, and it’s what led to today’s verdict,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada, who earlier said in a statement that Girardi was “a Robin Hood in reverse, stealing from the needy to fund a lavish Hollywood lifestyle.”

“I believed at one point that Tom Girardi was a decent human being, that he was a hero. You know what they say about meeting your heroes, right? They disappoint you. It’s unfortunate that people watched the Erin Brockovich movie for decades and thought that even part of it was real,” said Girardi’s former legal counsel, Kimberly Archie, who spoke to the media outside the courtroom after the verdict Tuesday.

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Charles Snyder, an assistant federal public defender who represents Girardi, told the jury that as his client’s cognitive impairment worsened over the years, employees of the defendant’s now-closed Girardi Keese law firm — not Girardi — stole funds.
“hand on fist.”

“Girardi was not paying close attention” to how his business was operating, Snyder said, claiming his client “had gotten old, had gotten sick and had lost his mind.”

Prosecutors said the fraud operation lasted from 2010 to 2020 and involved many more former clients than the four implicated in the current case.

The four counts of wire fraud involved four victims, some of whom had suffered serious injuries in accidents, and whose settlement funds were embezzled by the disgraced former attorney. They are Joe Ruigomez, who suffered burns over most of his body when a gas line exploded, killing his girlfriend; Judy Selberg, whose husband was killed in a boating accident; Josefina Hernandez, who was injured by a faulty medical device; and Erika Saldana, whose 1-year-old baby was seriously injured in a car accident with a drunk driver. The baby later died.

Last Thursday, Girardi, once a powerful figure in the California legal community, was the last witness called by his lawyers to testify, saying that “every client got every penny that every client was supposed to get.”

The defendant blamed his company’s former chief accountant, Chris Kamon, for the disappearance of the money. On the witness stand, Girardi said Kamon “was pretty adept at stealing millions of dollars.”

Defense attorneys declined to comment after Tuesday’s verdicts.

Kamon, 50, originally from Encino and Palos Verdes and who was living in the Bahamas at the time of his arrest in November 2022, is awaiting trial in January. He is charged with multiple counts of fraud for allegedly aiding and abetting

Girardi’s scheme to defraud clients. Kamon also allegedly embezzled millions of dollars from the law firm’s accounts for his own personal enrichment. Kamon, who remains in federal custody, has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Girardi, Kamon and David R. Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law and Girardi Keese’s former attorney, were also charged with federal fraud in Chicago in March.

Assistant District Attorney Scott Paetty told jurors Monday during closing arguments that Kamon would be in court soon. At the same time, he added, the fact that the former accountant allegedly misappropriated settlement funds does not make Girardi innocent.

“It just makes Girardi Keese a den of thieves, and it makes Girardi the chief thief,” Paetty said.

Snyder told the jury in Los Angeles federal court during his closing arguments that while Girardi became an increasingly confused “bad manager” of the company, Kamon operated as a “virtuoso” of fraud.

However, Moghaddas said it was Girardi who treated the attorney-client trust accounts like “his personal piggy bank,” adding that some clients never saw anything of their settlements.

Girardi diverted tens of millions of dollars from his law firm’s operating account to pay for improper expenses, including more than $25 million to pay for expenses at EJ Global, a company founded by his now-estranged wife and tied to his entertainment career, as well as millions of dollars in Girardi Keese funds spent on private jet travel, jewelry, luxury cars, and exclusive golf and social clubs.

In late 2020, as Girardi and his law firm faced mounting legal problems related to his years of stealing client funds, Girardi Keese was forced to file for involuntary bankruptcy. The State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022.

Earlier this year, after several days of hearings, Girardi was found competent to stand trial despite his claims that he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was unable to assist his lawyers. He is free on $250,000 bail and living in the secure memory ward of an Orange County nursing home.

Once known as a defender of the weak in class actions against corporations, Girardi has represented plaintiffs in a number of high-profile cases, including Bryan Stow’s civil suit against Major League Baseball.

Stow was the San Francisco Giants fan who was seriously injured in an attack in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

Girardi also represented the plaintiffs in the toxic groundwater case against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. which was dramatized in Julia Roberts’ 2000 Oscar-winning film, “Erin Brockovich.”

Jayne filed for divorce from Girardi in 2020 after 21 years of marriage. Following the split, the couple listed their Pasadena home for $13 million. Jayne has not been charged in the case against her husband.

After Girardi was disbarred in 2022, the State Bar of California reported receiving 205 complaints against him, alleging he misappropriated settlement money, abandoned clients or committed other serious ethical violations during his four-decade career.

Girardi Keese collapsed in late 2020 after Girardi was accused in a lawsuit of embezzling money intended for clients the firm represented in litigation over a plane crash in Indonesia.

Girardi is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, as is the now-shuttered Wilshire Boulevard law firm that bore his name, which faces more than $500 million in claims.

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