Tom Girardi, Disgraced Lawyer, Indicted On Fraud Charges - Los Angeles Times

2/1/23, 6:37 PM Tom Girardi, disgraced lawyer, indicted on fraud charges - Los Angeles Times
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Tom Girardi, disgraced L.A. lawyer and ‘Real Housewives’ spouse,

indicted on fraud charges
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-01/tom-girardi-indictment-la-lawyer 1/12
Tom Girardi gestures during a trial in 2014. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
BY MATT HAMILTON, HARRIET RYAN
FEB. 1, 2023 UPDATED 12:47 PM PT
Tom Girardi, the once-vaunted Los Angeles trial attorney, was indicted by federal grand
juries in two states on fraud charges that allege he swindled more than $18 million from
several clients who had endured catastrophic injuries or tragic deaths of loved ones,
prosecutors announced Wednesday.
In Chicago, Girardi and his son-in-law, attorney David Lira, and the former chief
financial officer of Girardi’s law firm, Christopher Kamon, were charged with eight
counts of wire fraud and four counts of contempt of court. Prosecutors said the trio had
misappropriated more than $3 million in settlement funds meant for widows and
orphans whose relatives had perished in a Boeing plane crash off the coast of Indonesia.
In Los Angeles, Girardi was charged with wire fraud in an indictment that accuses him
of embezzling more than $15 million from clients and using the funds to cover his law
firm’s payroll and pay his personal expenses, including a hefty American Express bill
and fees at two country clubs. The L.A. case also includes charges against Kamon, the
former CFO, and indicates that he and his boss “devised, participated in, and executed a
scheme to defraud victim clients” from 2010 until the firm, Girardi Keese, collapsed in
late 2020.
The prosecution marks the latest chapter in the stunning downfall of an attorney who
cultivated close ties with mayors, governors, senators, judges and Supreme Court
justices, and who was revered — and feared — by fellow attorneys in California and
beyond for the landmark settlements he brokered and the powerful officials he called his
friends.
The pair of indictments follows extensive reporting by The Times on how Girardi
corrupted the legal system for financial gain and eluded discipline by the State Bar of
California — the entity that regulates attorneys — despite decades of credible
accusations of misappropriating his clients’ money.
Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne: What to know

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“Mr. Girardi was widely celebrated for being a champion of those fighting against
corporations, but our investigation has revealed that, in fact, Mr. Girardi was robbing
and stealing from those people,” Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney in L.A., said at a news
conference Wednesday. Estrada said the charges point to “corruption by one of the most
high-profile plaintiff’s lawyers in the country.”
“He claimed to be fighting for those who are less fortunate,” Estrada added, “but our
investigation has revealed that behind this public persona, Mr. Girardi and Mr. Kamon
were committing fraud on a massive scale.”
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In Chicago, U.S. Atty. John R. Lausch Jr. said of Lira and Girardi: “Attorneys who
violate the trust of their clients and breach a fiduciary duty that is paramount to the
practice of law must be held accountable.”
Representatives for Girardi, Lira and Kamon did not immediately respond to requests
for comment. Girardi was expected to appear in federal court in downtown L.A. on
Monday.
Between the two cases, Girardi faces 13 counts of wire fraud; each count carries a
maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
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The prosecution of the 83-year-old former attorney, who was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease by a physician in March 2021, sets the stage for a legal battle over
whether Girardi is fit to stand trial.
Now living in a memory care facility in Orange County, Girardi is subject to a court-
ordered conservatorship that gives his younger brother, Robert, a dentist in Seal Beach,
authority to make decisions for him about healthcare and finances. Conservatorship
records indicate that Girardi has been prescribed medication for dementia and is also
suffering from blindness in one eye and “hearing issues.”
In L.A. legal circles, many have questioned whether the court legend claimed dementia
to avoid the consequences of his misconduct. The first assertion that he has serious
cognitive problems was through a criminal defense lawyer at a December 2020 hearing
where a federal court judge was confronting him with evidence that he had stolen
millions from clients.
Read the full indicment

Feb. 1, 2023
Officials from the State Bar of California even went to court to challenge the
conservatorship a few weeks after the diagnosis, saying that the proceeding was
occurring under “highly unusual circumstances” and that the evidence of impairment
was “sparse.” In a filing, they noted that in the month before the claim of cognitive
problems, Girardi had hosted a continuing education class for lawyers on complex
litigation strategies. Agency officials asked for more extensive neurological testing for
the lawyer, but the request was denied.
Asked about Girardi’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis on Wednesday, Estrada said: “We leave it
for the court to determine competency issues.”
He noted that the indictment charges conduct from 2010 to 2020, when Girardi was a
practicing attorney. “We believe the evidence shows his competency during that time,”
Estrada said.
Times investigation of Tom Girardi
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Matt Hamilton
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Matt Hamilton is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He won the 2019 Pulitzer
Prize for investigative reporting with colleagues Harriet Ryan and Paul Pringle and
was part of the team of reporters that won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the San
Bernardino terrorist attack. A graduate of Boston College and the University of
Southern California, he joined The Times in 2013.
Harriet Ryan
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Harriet Ryan is an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining the
paper in 2008, she has written about high-profile people, including Phil Spector,
Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, and institutions, including USC, the Catholic
Church, the Kabbalah Centre and Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin.
Ryan won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting with colleagues Matt
Hamilton and Paul Pringle in 2019. She previously worked at Court TV and the
Asbury Park Press. She is a graduate of Columbia University.
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2/1/23, 6:37 PM Tom Girardi, disgraced lawyer, indicted on fraud charges - Los Angeles Times

Tom Girardi, disgraced L.A. lawyer and ‘Real Housewives’ spouse,

BY MATT HAMILTON, HARRIET RYAN

FEB. 1, 2023 UPDATED 12:47 PM PT

Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne: What to know

Read the full indicment

Times investigation of Tom Girardi

Another legacy for Tom Girardi: Tighter regulation of California lawyers

The stories shaping California

Enter email address

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Twitter Instagram Email Facebook

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‘He intentionally tried to kill us’: Wife’s statement to paramedics key to

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CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

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