Erika Jayne Pressured To Trial After Being Accused of Spending $24 Million in Fraudulent Funds
A decide has formally been assigned within the high-stakes lawsuit towards Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne, with a trial anticipated to happen this summer season.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by Tom Girardi’s chapter trustee Elissa Miller, accuses Erika of receiving $24 million in funds that allegedly got here from “belief accounts held by Girardi’s legislation agency, Girardi Keese” — cash supposed for shoppers however allegedly used to assist Erika’s way of life and leisure profession.
Erika Jayne Denies Wrongdoing as Authorized Drama Intensifies
Whereas Erika Jayne, 52, has repeatedly denied any involvement or data of her estranged husband’s alleged embezzlement scheme, the trustee argues that Erika “knowingly and willingly participated” in Tom’s fraudulent exercise.
In courtroom paperwork, Miller claims that Erika used “Tom’s private American Categorical account” to cowl bills “incurred in pursuit of her leisure profession,” and that Tom “personally paid her payments and invoices.”
The trustee’s group asserts these funds had been falsely recorded as “loans” on the legislation agency’s books.
Companies Additionally Named in Lawsuit
Along with naming Erika personally, the trustee can be suing her two companies: “EJ World, LLC” and “Fairly Mess, Inc.”
The lawsuit states: “Ms. Girardi knowingly and willingly participated in Mr. Girardi’s legal enterprise, and the cash used to pay her enterprise bills had been monies from that legal enterprise.”
Erika’s authorized group has pushed again, arguing that any funds had been made to “EJ World, LLC” as an alleged company debt, “to not Erika personally.”
“No promissory notice exists,” her group claims, noting that “Girardi Keese by no means created a written settlement” outlining EJ World’s debt.
Erika’s Attorneys Say She Trusted Her Husband
Erika’s legal professionals are additionally looking for to strike what they name malicious and unproven claims, stating: “Accusations that Ms. Girardi knowingly and willingly participated in a legal enterprise are false, not supported by any proof by any means, malicious, and ought to be stricken.”
They additional contend that “Erika’s solely misstep,” was trusting her husband, who on the time was a “profitable and complicated legal professional.”
Tom Girardi’s Conviction and Well being Issues
In 2024, Tom Girardi was “convicted of embezzling over $15 million” from shoppers. Nonetheless, “his sentencing has been delayed,” because of his medical situation. Girardi, 84, was recognized with “late-onset Alzheimer’s illness,” in 2021 and is presently dwelling in a “reminiscence care facility.”
Erika Jayne Is Not Settling, Insider Claims
With a decide now assigned to the case, sources say “Erika has no intention of settling.”
An insider near the authorized battle advised The U.S. Solar, “[Erika’s] by no means going to settle.”
Which means the high-profile case is anticipated to play out in courtroom later this yr — inserting the Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills star on the middle of what might be one of many greatest reality-TV-adjacent trials of the last decade.
The Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Sundays on Bravo.
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Olivia Davis is a Employees Author at All About The Tea. Olivia’s hobbies embody binging Netflix sequence, and watching Housewives on Bravo. She graduated from San Francisco State College with a level in Historical past.