Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars from his former clients.
After being found guilty months back, Tom’s legal team had been trying to have him sentenced to a hospital as he has dementia.
Tom was accused of stealing millions from vulnerable clients, including widows, orphans, and burn victims. He allegedly used settlement funds to support a lavish lifestyle and finance estranged wife Erika Jayne’s career, triggering lawsuits, disbarment, and federal charges of wire fraud and criminal misappropriation.
“Girardi sent lulling communications to the defrauded clients that, among other things, falsely denied that the settlement proceeds had been paid and falsely claimed that Girardi Keese could not pay the settlement proceeds to clients until certain purported requirements had been met,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a news release.
“These bogus requirements included addressing supposed tax obligations, settling bankruptcy claims, obtaining supposedly necessary authorizations from judges, and satisfying other debts.”
Erika Jayne was named in a lawsuit that alleged she was aware of Girardi’s embezzlement in the Lion Air case, but she was eventually dismissed from the suit in 2022.
