March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

Disbarred, bankrupt lawyer Girardi charged with client theft

Disbarred, bankrupt lawyer Girardi charged with client theft

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disgraced ex-lawyer Tom Girardi, once celebrated for winning massive settlements, has been indicted by federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Chicago on charges he stole more than $18 million from clients, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The charges are the latest legal blow to a once-powerful player who rubbed elbows with politicians and celebrities. As one of the nation’s most prominent plaintiff’s attorneys, Girardi was known for high-profile litigation such as the case that led to a $333 million settlement portrayed in the movie “Erin Brockovich.”

With a weekly radio show called “Champions of Justice,” Girardi stood up to large corporations on behalf of people harmed by pollution, medical products and automobiles. At the same time, however, he was robbing some of those clients, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference.

“He claimed to be fighting for those less fortunate,” Estrada said. “But our investigation has revealed that behind this public persona, (he was) committing fraud on a massive of scale."

The schemes included swindling a Los Angeles couple whose son was paralyzed in a car wreck, an Arizona widow whose husband died when a boat unexpectedly sped up to 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) and flipped, and family members of victims in a 2018 Lion Air crash that killed 189 people, according to the indictments.

Girardi, 83, who once played a supporting role on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” which starred his now-estranged wife Erika Jayne, was disbarred last summer for siphoning client funds. His Los Angeles firm Girardi Keese is bankrupt and he’s said to be suffering from dementia and is under a court conservatorship.

U.S. prosecutors in Chicago said Girardi, his attorney son-in-law and their firm's chief financial officer took funds for five clients who reached settlements with Boeing, the makers of the 737 Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air that crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018 and killed 189 people.

“The substantial misappropriation alleged in this indictment compounded the grief and anguish of the clients who lost loved ones in the Lion Air crash,” said John Lausch, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Illinois.

A Chicago law firm involved in the Lion Air case filed a racketeering lawsuit last year alleging that Girardi and his associates essentially ran a Ponzi scheme, siphoning off $100 million from their clients, attorneys they worked with and others.

“The real story is one that seems like a tale out of a John Grisham novel: Girardi Keese was little more than a criminal enterprise, disguised as a law firm,” according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by the Edelson law firm. “Indeed, the Girardi Keese firm operated what we now know was the largest criminal racketeering enterprise in the history of plaintiffs’ law."

Girardi made his name, and his money, taking on powerful corporations and public institutions, including Hollywood’s major movie studios, Lockheed, The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Pacific Gas and Electric in a case that inspired “Erin Brockovich,” the 2000 Julia Roberts film about a California desert community whose water has been poisoned. Girardi served as an adviser on the Oscar-winning flick.

“That particular case revolutionized people’s thinking about all the toxic things they are exposed to,” he told Attorney at Law magazine in 2015.

Girardi married Jayne in 2000. She became a member of the cast of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” on which he made several appearances. He spent considerable money funding her unsuccessful musical career.

Jayne filed for divorce in 2020.

While Girardi's legal and financial woes only surfaced publicly in the past few years, clients filed more than 200 complaints against him over four decades, The State Bar of California revealed in November. Nearly 60% of complaints were about accounts set up to safeguard client funds.

Until he was disbarred in June, he had never been publicly disciplined.

Ruben Duran, the chair of the bar’s board of trustees, issued a mea culpa over “serious failures” in its discipline system.

“There is no excuse being offered here,” Duran wrote. “Girardi caused irreparable harm to hundreds of his clients, and the State Bar could have done more to protect the public. We can never allow something like this to happen again.”

An ongoing investigation by an outside law firm is examining whether Girardi’s influence or connections at the bar helped him evade discipline for the unusual volume of complaints.

Girardi and attorney David Lira, 62, his son-in-law, and firm CFO Christopher Kamon face eight charges of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court in Chicago.

Girardi and Kamon, 49, are charged in Los Angeles with wire fraud for embezzling more than $15 million from clients, prosecutors said.

In one case, described in the LA indictment, Girardi settled a case for $53 million involving a man severely burned in a PG&E gas line explosion in San Bruno, California, in 2010. But he told the client the settlement was for $7.25 million.

More than half the settlement was then embezzled and some was used to pay expenses, firm liabilities and other clients whose funds had also been misappropriated. Payments to the burn victim, meanwhile, were delayed through a series of stall tactics.

When asked about how an Alzheimer's diagnosis that Girardi was given in his conservatorship matter would affect the criminal case, Estrada said it would be up to the court to evaluate his mental competency.

“The indictment charges misconduct during a 10-year timeframe,” he said. “When Mr. Girardi was a practicing lawyer, we believe the evidence shows he was competent during that time.”

Girardi is expected to appear Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Arraignments were set for Feb. 7 in Chicago.

Kamon, who is custody, has pleaded not guilty to another wire fraud case in which he's accused of embezzling law firm funds to renovate two LA-area homes, pay for shopping sprees and hire an escort.

Attorneys for Girardi and Kamon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lira's attorney said his client is innocent, will plead not guilty and will fight the charges.

“David Lira was not involved in a scheme to defraud," attorney Damon Cheronis said in an email. “Mr. Lira is a well-respected lawyer and has been for over three decades."

___

Foody reported from Chicago. Associated Press journalist Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.

Українські новини

Хризантема - вродлива квітка, що вимагає особливого догляду

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Ria.city






Read also

How to restrict stories in the Apple News app

How to watch tonight’s San Jose Sharks-Minnesota Wild game

Don't Go Camping Without Seeing these 26 Camping Recipes First

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Российская теннисистка Калинская покинула WTA-1000 из-за проблем со здоровьем



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Блиц-матч по шахматам между двумя командами провели в павильоне «Спорт для каждого»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Федерация бокса России на ВДНХ


Новости России

Game News

Пробный запуск вампирского градостроя Vampire Legacy: City Builder


Russian.city


Москва

Защитить друга. В Москве можно бесплатно вакцинировать питомца от бешенства


Губернаторы России
Владимир Потанин

Федеральный девелопер: ЦФА позволят легко и просто накопить квадратные метры и "обернуть" их в квартиру


Маркелов: долг каждого из нас — отдать дань благодарности всем, кто кует обеду над вселенским злом

Собянин: В Москве выберут лучший реализованный проект в области строительства

Metaratings: "Спартак" может уволить Абаскаля по ходу сезона, клуб ищет тренера

«Не первоапрельская шутка»: Тишковец пообещал москвичам майское тепло 1-2 апреля


Как Розенбаум судился с мусорщиками, Шнур прогорел на «Пушкине», а Нагиев заработал 4 тысячи рублей за год

Певица Mia Boyka призналась, что в детстве ходила в церковь почти каждый день

"Прости!!!": Пугачева попросила прощения у Манижи

Рэпер ST признался, что не смог написать песню о трагедии в "Крокусе"


Александрова обыграла первую ракетку мира на турнире WTA

Хачанов победил Черундоло и пробился в 1/8 финала турнира ATP в Майами

Рыбакина, наряду со Свёнтек, имеет 70% побед на WTA-1000 против соперниц из топ-10

Виктория Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами



«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

Архитектурные доминанты округов Москвы

Пассажир рейса Москва — Пермь попал в реанимацию


Федеральный девелопер: ЦФА позволят легко и просто накопить квадратные метры и "обернуть" их в квартиру

ТНТ запускает ежедневное утреннее шоу с Анной Хилькевич и Анатолием Цоем

Топливному компромиссу между Украиной и Азербайджаном пришел конец?

«Отрешенность от РФ»: адвокат объяснил молчание Пугачевой о теракте в «Крокусе»


Путин Беглову: почему мировой центр туризма Санкт-Петербург оказался на четвёртом месте в России?

Путин отчитал Беглова за место Петербурга в туристическом рейтинге

«Неприменение смертной казни – это заблуждение»

Специалисты МЧС России регулярно напоминают гражданам правила пожарной безопасности



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Алла Пугачёва

"Прости!!!": Пугачева попросила прощения у Манижи



News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости