Tom Girardi, former Real Housewives husband, found guilty of embezzling tens of millions of dollars

Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne and former high-profile personal-injury attorney who was disbarred in 2022, has been found guilty on four counts of wire fraud by a federal jury.

In a news release following the Tuesday verdict, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said that Girardi, 85, led "a years-long scheme in which he embezzled tens of millions of dollars of money that belonged to his clients, some of whom awaited payment for treatment of severe physical injuries."

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada added that Girardi "built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a 'Champion of Justice.' In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support of a lavish, Hollywood lifestyle. Today's verdict shows that the game is up — we can all now see this defendant for what he was and the victims he callously betrayed."

Girardi will be sentenced Dec. 6 and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison per count — up to 80 years.

Representatives for Girardi and Jayne didn't immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly's request for comment.

Prosecutors said Girardi "misappropriated and embezzled millions of dollars from client trust accounts" while working as a partner at his firm, Girardi Keese. He then "diverted tens of millions of dollars" from those clients' settlements to "pay illegitimate expenses," including $25 million in expenses incurred by a company called EJ Global, which was founded by Jayne to finance her entertainment career. They also allege that Girardi spent "millions" of client funds on "private jet travel, jewelry, luxury cars, and exclusive golf and social clubs."

Girardi's scheme began to be uncovered in 2020, when, only a month after receiving divorce papers from Jayne, the couple were sued for embezzlement.

The inciting incident was a 2018 Lion Air plane crash. Girardi won millions on behalf of the families of the crash victims, but many of those plaintiffs never saw the money they were promised.

Prosecutors proved during the 13-day trial that from 2010 to 2020, Girardi perpetrated a number of crimes against clients. They included producing "a litany of lies for failure to pay clients," falsely denying "that the settlement proceeds had been paid," and falsely claiming "that Girardi Keese could not pay the settlement proceeds to clients until certain purported requirements had been met."

Jayne is no longer legally implicated in her former husband's case, having won a legal battle in January over a pair of $750,000 earrings that a judge demanded Jayne relinquish in 2022, following claims they were purchased using embezzled Girardi Keese funds. She took heat from her RHOBH costars but eventually prevailed in court, holding onto the earrings.