Tom Girardi publicly addresses fraud allegations for the first time: 'Every client got every penny'

Tom Girardi, the disgraced lawyer and ex-husband to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi (a.k.a. Erika Jayne), has finally addressed the wire fraud allegations that prompted his divorce, dissolved his law firm, and led to him standing trial.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Girardi took the stand on Aug. 23 to defend himself, marking the first time he's addressed the allegations. "I’ve never taken a salary as a lawyer," he testified. "I wasn’t going to quote ‘go steal money.’ I wouldn’t think of it."

Trouble began brewing for the former Girardi & Keese partner in 2020 when then-wife Erika, who releases pop music under the name Erika Jayne and has starred on the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills since 2015, filed for divorce. Only a month later, the couple were sued over large-scale embezzlement allegations.

Families of the victims of a 2018 Lion Air plane crash accused Tom and his firm of diverting funds won in a suit against the airline away from the litigants and toward Erika, to fund her career and lifestyle. Erika was dropped from the suit but it was refiled in 2022, and Tom was indicted for theft in 2023. He now stands trial on four counts of wire fraud.

The allegations against Tom have since ballooned, as "hundreds" of former clients and vendors have come forward to say Tom stole hundreds of millions of dollars that they're owed. Yet in court, Tom claimed that “every client got every penny that every client was supposed to get,” according to the L.A. Times.

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Tom's federal public defender, Samuel Cross, appeared to demonstrate what his legal team has been citing as a reason for the case to be thrown out — Girardi's steep cognitive decline. "Is your law firm still open, Tom?" Cross asked his client Friday, to which Tom responded, "Yes." Girardi & Keese closed in 2020.

Prior to his wife's casting on RHOBH, Tom was best known as the lawyer who opened the case upon which Erin Brockovich was based. Tom cited the film during his testimony, claiming he only ever thought of "helping people who have been harmed."

When pressed about a client who "didn't get a nickel" of a settlement he won her, Tom responded, "I don't know about that," adding, "the last thing I was going to do was take somebody’s money for my own benefit."

Erika is still a main cast member on RHOBH, alongside Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke, Kyle Richards, Dorit Kemsley, new cast member Bozoma Saint John, and new friend of the cast, Jennifer Tilly. Season 14 is currently in production, with no confirmed premiere date. The court will hear closing arguments in the Girardi case on Aug. 26.