The plot thickens. A federal decide in Chicago has frozen Tom Girardi‘s belongings amid his split from Erika Jayne, claiming that the famed lawyer owes thousands and thousands to his shoppers.
Girardi, 81, appeared via phone at a contempt listening to on Monday, December 14, when U.S. District Choose Thomas M. Durkin known as the legal professional’s monitor file “unconscionable.” In accordance with a report by The Los Angeles Times, Girardi “misappropriated not less than $2 million in shopper funds that have been as a result of households of these killed within the crash of a Boeing jet in Indonesia” in 2018.
Two members of Girardi’s authorized crew claimed, nonetheless, that the Colorado native didn’t presently possess the funds in query. Throughout the listening to, Durkin warned that Girardi might be “disbarred and fairly probably charged criminally” for misusing cash from shoppers.
Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne. Damian Dovarganes/AP/Shutterstock; Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com
The transfer to freeze Girardi’s belongings comes one month after Jayne, 49, filed for divorce after greater than 20 years of marriage. A supply later instructed Us Weekly solely that the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and her estranged husband “had an unconventional marriage, spending a whole lot of time aside.”
“This isn’t a step taken flippantly or simply,” Jayne stated of her cut up in a press release to Us in November. “I’ve nice love and respect for Tom and for our years and the lives we constructed collectively. It’s my absolute want to proceed by this course of with respect and with the privateness that each Tom and I deserve. I request others give us that privateness as effectively.”
The pair, who wed in 1999, didn’t have a prenuptial settlement. Court docket paperwork obtained by Us after their cut up said that the reality star is seeking spousal support — and is requesting that Girardi pay her authorized charges amid their divorce. She additionally requested the decide to dam the Girardi & Keese founder from looking for spousal help from her.
Issues received extra difficult for the twosome when they were hit with a lawsuit earlier this month that accused them of embezzling money from these affected by the Lion Air Flight 610 crash. Federal court docket paperwork alleged that the duo’s divorce is “a sham try to fraudulently defend Tom and Erika’s cash.” Neither Girardi nor the “Curler Coaster” singer have publicly addressed the claims.
Throughout Monday’s listening to, the legal professionals representing Girardi claimed that his agency solely had about $15,000 in its accounts and was unable to correctly pay staff. Lawyer Evan Jenness instructed the decide that Girardi ought to bear a psychological examination because the authorized drama continues.
“I’m uncertain that he understands both the character or the gravity of the present state of affairs,” Jenness instructed the court docket, per The Los Angeles Instances.
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