What Tom Girardi Was Actually Charged With. By the Federal Government. In Writing.

Because before we talk about Erika, glam squads, and a judge who taught ethics while accepting stolen money — you need the official receipts.

In February 2023, Tom Girardi was federally indicted on four counts of wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office accused him of stealing more than $15 million in settlement funds from clients over a ten-year period. People who had won their cases. People who were waiting for money that was legally theirs. People who kept being told it was coming "soon."

In August 2024, after a 13-day trial, a jury convicted him on all four counts. In June 2025, he was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution.

His victims included families of the 189 people killed on Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018, burn victims, cancer patients, and people who had suffered serious physical injuries. People who had nowhere else to turn. People who trusted him completely.

The U.S. Attorney called him "a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of millions of dollars." Tom's defense at sentencing: Alzheimer's. The judge wasn't buying it. "Custody is not reserved for the unfortunate," she said. And sent him to prison on his 86th birthday.

A Legend. A Liar. And a Very Expensive Wife.

Tom Girardi was one of the most celebrated plaintiff attorneys in California history. The man behind the real Erin Brockovich case — a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric. Fifty years of wins. Halls of legal fame. Clients who trusted him with the worst moments of their lives.

Here is how his firm was supposed to work: client wins a lawsuit, settlement money goes into a protected trust account, money gets distributed to the client. Simple. Legal. Required by law.

Here is how his firm actually worked: Tom took the money. Then he told clients it was delayed. Tax issues. A judge needed to approve it. Paperwork. He had approximately seventeen different excuses and rotated through all of them. When one client got too impatient, Tom would pay them using the next client's money. Classic Ponzi scheme. Works until it doesn't. It stopped working in 2020.

In one case, a client won a $53 million settlement. Tom told them it was $7.2 million. He kept the difference. The client had no idea. For years. Because Tom Girardi was very good at two things: winning cases and lying about what happened to the money afterward. Only one of those things sent him to prison.

Private Jets. Golf Clubs. A $13 Million Estate. The Usual.

Before we get to everyone else he was financing — let's talk about what Tom was buying for himself. Because it wasn't nothing.

While stealing from clients, Tom managed to maintain a full personal lifestyle — private jets, luxury cars, exclusive golf club memberships, social clubs across Los Angeles, and a $13 million Pasadena estate that became a backdrop for RHOBH. Standard rich lawyer stuff, except none of it was paid for with legitimate earnings. His estimated net worth at his peak: $264 million. His net worth today: approximately $100,000. The math on where the rest went is not complicated.

Because It Wasn't Just Erika. Not Even Close.

Tom Girardi was a generous man. Just not with his own money. And not only with his wife.

Judge Tricia Bigelow — The Mistress. And yes, we said judge. Sitting California appellate court justice. The kind of judge lawyers like Tom Girardi appear before in court. Tom wired $300,000 from a trust account holding cancer victims' settlement funds directly to Judge Bigelow the week she closed on a beachfront condo in Santa Monica. He also paid her Saks Fifth Avenue bills and her plastic surgery. While all of this was happening, Judge Bigelow was — and we are not making this up — teaching judicial ethics to new California judges as Dean of the Bernard E. Witkin Judicial College. She wrote three books on the subject. She received awards for her dedication to justice. Her attorney later said she is "a staunch advocate for victims of crime."

The victims whose money paid for her condo could not be reached for comment.

Six months after Erika exposed the affair publicly on Instagram, Bigelow quietly retired from the bench — before any formal investigation could be opened. She now works as a private judge at a mediation firm. She returned some jewelry. The condo still has an ocean view.

Christopher Kamon — The CFO. Tom's head of accounting didn't just help Tom steal from clients. He also stole from Tom at the same time. A theft within a theft. With his cut, Kamon financed home renovations, exotic cars, female escorts, and a Las Vegas marriage proposal with private jet and professional dancers for his girlfriend — whom he met on seekingarrangements.com. She received $360,000 in transfers, a Tesla, and a $120,000 handbag. All from client funds. Kamon: 10 years federal prison. The Tesla girlfriend: zero charges.

David Lira — The Son-in-Law. Married to Tom's daughter. Senior attorney at the firm. Knew Tom wasn't paying Lion Air victims. Said nothing. Covered it up. Sentence: 4 months in prison. The prosecutor wanted 3 years. Four months for covering up the theft of millions from Indonesian widows and orphans. Justice is a spectrum apparently.

She Probably Didn't Know It Was Stolen. She Absolutely Knew How to Spend It.

This is the nuance nobody wants to have. So we're having it anyway.

Did Erika know the money was stolen? Honestly — probably not. Tom Girardi had been a legal legend for fifty years. When your husband of twenty years, the man who won the real Erin Brockovich case, puts money into your company account — you don't assume it came from dying people. He was always rich. He was always powerful. Why would you question it? That part is actually believable.

What is not believable is the "controlling husband who gave me no access to money" narrative. Because here is what "no access to money" looked like for Erika Jayne.

EJ Global LLC. Her company. Her name on the paperwork. Her signature on every expense — the trustee's letter specifically noted she "signed under penalty of perjury and personally approved the charges." Sole owner. Full control. No husband co-signing. No Tom standing over her shoulder. Just Erika, her LLC, and $25,592,261.26 to spend however she wanted.

But the $25 million was only part of the picture. Because while EJ Global was spending stolen money on her career — Erika was also cashing a Bravo paycheck, performance fees, book deals, and a Las Vegas residency. And paying zero bills. Tom covered rent, mortgage, electricity, groceries, cars — all of it. Separately. Not even counted in the $25 million.

Erika Chahoy. Born in Atlanta, Georgia. Single mother. Not rich. Not connected. Waited tables after high school. First husband was a club DJ. Stage name: her first name plus her mother's first name. Not even a real stage name — just two first names and a dream.

Here is what she was spending every month while paying zero bills:

At $250,000 a month, $33 million disappears in eleven years. Which is exactly how long this lasted. We'll just leave that math here and back away slowly.

But here's the question nobody asked on camera: was Erika Jayne ever supposed to be profitable? Because a real music career is an investment — you spend to build something that pays back. Labels. Royalties. Sold-out tours. Merchandise. The money comes back. Erika Jayne's career never came back. No major label. No stadium tours. No merchandise empire. Club shows at $50,000 a night while spending $2 million a year just to show up. Was this ever a career? Or was this just what happens when someone gets handed a blank check, a glam squad, and absolutely no reason to ever ask where the money comes from?

The only thing that ever truly paid was the show about the lawsuit.

$33 million. No rent. No mortgage. No bills. No groceries. Thirty. Three. Million. Dollars. Of pure disposable income. For $33 million you could buy a Monet. A fleet of Bentleys. A vineyard in Tuscany. A private island in the Maldives. A penthouse in Manhattan overlooking Central Park. You could fund three Broadway shows, own a yacht, and still have enough left for a glam squad that works seven days a week for the rest of your natural life.

Erika Jayne has $1.5 million left.

The bank statements were never handed over. The accountant never testified. The case settled before anyone had to answer the obvious question under oath.

Where is the money, Erika.

No question mark. Because at this point it's not even a question. It's just a fact that nobody answered.

Most of us are out here choosing between the name brand and the generic. Erika was spending $102,596 on Kim Kardashian's former assistant with money that belonged to cancer victims. For herself. Only for herself. Not the house. Not shared expenses. Her career, her outfits, her image, her dancers.

And here's what nobody talks about: every single person and company that EJ Global paid over those 12 years? Potentially on the hook too. Same legal theory. You received stolen funds — even unknowingly — you may have to give it back. The PR firms. The photographers. The dance agency. The production companies. Kim K's former assistant and her $102,596. The trustee quietly began filing lawsuits against these vendors. Their outcomes? Almost entirely unreported. Nobody followed up. Somewhere out there, a photographer is hoping nobody remembers they once shot Erika Jayne's tour looks.

Didn't know it was stolen? Probably true.
Had no access to money? Honey, please.

Here's the one thing we'll give her: she never pretended everything was fine. She sat in the mess, on camera, and said "I have no idea what's going to happen to me." Compare that to certain other cast members who showed up one day with a fake accent from nowhere and an even faker bank account — while smiling for the cameras like the concept of a mortgage had never once crossed their mind. Erika handled it loudly. Messily. With several quotes she probably regrets. But at least she was honest about going under. That part? Actually respect.

She Managed Her Defense on National Television. For Three Seasons. It Did Not Go Well.

December 2020: the fraud explodes publicly. RHOBH was filming Season 11 at that exact moment. The cameras were literally already there.

Which means Erika Jayne had to answer questions about her husband stealing from dying people — on camera, in front of her co-stars, in front of millions of viewers — in real time. No script. No PR team on set. Just Erika, a Bravo camera, and a narrative she was building on the fly.

The strategy, such as it was: cry enough to seem human. Say "only Tom knows" enough to seem uninformed. Stay on the show to seem like someone with nothing to hide. And when someone pushes too hard — explode.

When Sutton Stracke raised legitimate questions about the lawsuit on camera, Erika's response was: "Would you like to get sued?" Sutton later said she felt genuinely threatened that night. Threatening a co-star on national television while already in the crosshairs of federal bankruptcy court is, to put it gently, a choice.

When fans pushed back on social media, Erika posted a GIF of herself saying "Go be offended at your own life." While the victims were still waiting for their money. The backlash was immediate. Her lawyers were presumably unavailable for comment because they were too busy processing what she had just done.

And then there was "they weren't my victims" — said on camera, to her co-stars, broadcast to millions of people, preserved forever in Bravo's archive. The single worst PR moment of her entire legal saga. Said on the same show where two seasons earlier she had declared "victims come first."

Staying on the show? Smart. Leaving would have looked like guilt. Nobody runs from cameras when they have nothing to hide.

Everything she said while she was there? A masterclass in self-destruction.

"They weren't my victims." One sentence. On camera. To millions of people. Somewhere a PR person quit their job that night.

The GIF — "Go be offended at your own life" — posted on Twitter while cancer victims were still waiting for their money. Bold choice, Erika. Bold choice.

"Victims come first." Season 11. "They weren't my victims." Season 12. One year. Same cameras. We'll let that breathe.

Her lawyers gave her three words and told her to use them forever: "Only Tom knows." Legally bulletproof. She used them well. And then she'd open her mouth again.

Three seasons. Millions of viewers. Cameras rolling. And somehow she kept handing people the receipts herself.

Nobody did more damage to Erika Jayne than Erika Jayne.

She Filed for Divorce in November 2020. The Fraud Became Public in December 2020.

We are simply going to put these two facts next to each other and let you sit with them.

November 2020: Erika files for divorce from Tom, citing irreconcilable differences.

December 2020: The fraud lawsuits explode publicly. The world finds out where the money came from. Tom's assets are frozen.

The divorce that had absolutely nothing to do with any of that was filed exactly one month before everything became public. Purely coincidental. Carry on.

November 2020: Filed for Divorce. December 2020: Scandal Goes Public. January 2021: New LLC.

Just in case the divorce timing wasn't enough to sit with.

One month after the fraud exploded publicly, Erika Jayne created a brand new company: Pretty Mess Inc. Named after her memoir. Named after her album. Created in January 2021 — thirty days after the world found out where the money came from.

The bankruptcy trustee noticed. In court documents, the trustee accused Erika of creating Pretty Mess Inc. "after the news broke of this scandal" and alleged she was using it to hide her assets from the bankruptcy proceedings. The trustee also claimed Erika refused to hand over bank statements and financial records for EJ Global or any of her affiliated companies.

Meanwhile, according to the same court filing, Erika was "publicly dissipating community assets by selling her clothes on public websites, flaunting large jewels on social media and on television."

So to recap the January 2021 situation: federal fraud scandal one month old, divorce filed, bankruptcy trustee circling, victims still waiting for their money — and Erika created a new LLC, sold clothes online, and wore large jewelry on television.

And here's the question nobody could officially answer because the case settled before anyone testified under oath: where exactly is the rest of the $33 million? $33 million came in over 12 years. Zero bills paid. $1.5 million left today. That's a lot of glam squad. That's a lot of sequins. Or — and we're just asking — is some of it somewhere nobody has looked yet? Like, say, a company created thirty days after the scandal broke whose bank statements were never handed over to the trustee?

She Says She Won. The Receipts Are More Complicated.

The $5 million lawsuit — the one she actually won. Two of Tom's former colleagues sued her for directly helping him steal. A judge found no evidence she actively participated. Dismissed. This is the "I won" she references constantly. What she doesn't mention: this case was about direct participation. Not about the $25 million sitting in her LLC. Two very different legal questions.

The $25 million lawsuit — the one that never went to trial. The bankruptcy trustee wanted all of EJ Global's money back. Five years. Settlement talks collapsed in December 2025. Attorney Ronald Richards — a legal commentator who had been publicly tracking the case on social media — posted: "Erika has little options. Panic sitting in." Weeks before trial, the trustee sold the lawsuit to a mysterious private company — LHA Land LLC — for $2 million. Nobody knows who owns it. The case was dismissed with a confidential settlement. No trial. No testimony under oath. No public findings. Nobody knows what she paid or agreed to.

The $18 million designer lawsuit — still very much alive. Designer Christopher Psaila made $934K in custom costumes for Erika. She disputed the charges. He claims she then used Tom's Secret Service connections to have him criminally investigated for fraud. His business was destroyed. The charges against him were dropped. He sued for $18 million. Every attempt to kill this case has failed. Coming soon to a courtroom near you.

Which is interesting. Because on Season 11, she looked directly into a camera and said "victims come first." She did not specify which victims. Presumably the one with the glam squad, the dance agency, and the $14 million AmEx bill.

That victim.

While All of This Was Happening.

189 people died on Lion Air Flight 610 in the Java Sea in 2018. Their families hired Tom Girardi to fight Boeing. He won $7.5 million for them. Then he kept it. COVID delays. Tax issues. Serious problems with Boeing. He had a rotating menu of excuses while the money sat in his account and got spent on payroll, operating expenses, and EJ Global.

The families eventually received their money — not because Tom paid it back, not because the bankruptcy court recovered it, but because Edelson PC, the Chicago law firm that had co-represented the victims, paid them out of their own pocket when they realized what had happened. Then Edelson sued Girardi to get it back. The victims were made whole because another law firm did the right thing. Not because the system caught Tom in time. Because a firm in Chicago wrote a check for someone else's crime.

Michelle Ganz's mother Sandi lived near a cement plant, breathed the pollution for years, got lung cancer, won her lawsuit. Michelle's words: "We never got a dime." The Lion Air families got their money eventually. The cancer victims? The restitution ordered — $2.3 million from a man worth $100,000 — is described by a former federal prosecutor as "unlikely" to be collected.

Erika Jayne is on Season 15 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Bravo renewed the show. The song was called "XXPEN$IVE." She wasn't wrong. She just never mentioned who paid for it.

Lisa Rinna Opened Her Mouth to Defend Erika Jayne. It Got Her Investigated.

In August 2021, Lisa Rinna sat down on Watch What Happens Live — hair perfect, confidence immaculate — and defended her best friend with the energy of someone who had absolutely nothing to worry about.

"I don't think she knew anything. Why would Tom tell her? The lawyers didn't even know." She added: "If I'm wrong, I'll f****** deal with it."

Iconic last words.

Ronald Richards — at the time officially appointed Special Litigation Counsel for the bankruptcy trustee, meaning he was literally the lawyer hired by the court to go after Erika — responded within hours. Turns out Lisa Rinna shares the same business manager and CPA as Erika Jayne. Richards posted publicly that he was now looking into her. Days later, update: same business manager. Large debt on her home. "Wonder what else we would find," he posted. Then tagged Camille Grammer — who had been asking uncomfortable questions about Erika — with "don't be intimidated."

So to recap: Lisa Rinna went on TV to defend Erika, accidentally put herself under investigation, was found to have a large debt on her home, and had apparently been intimidating Camille Grammer into silence. All in one week. As a friend.

Camille Grammer, for the record, was not intimidated. Camille Grammer is never intimidated.

Lisa Rinna is no longer on RHOBH. Make of that what you will.

What Actually Happened Between April 16 and May 22, 2026.

On April 16, 2026, Richards posted: "Erika is cornered. Will Wilkes overbid and save her? Will Bravo TV save her?" Thirty-six days later, the $25 million trial had vanished.

Here is what we know. The trustee sold the $25 million claim to LHA Land LLC for $2 million — nobody knows who owns LHA Land LLC. The case was dismissed with a confidential settlement. And according to reporting, Erika is now cooperating with prosecutors on "other mess involving Tom."

Cooperating. With prosecutors. About other mess. Which means she has information. Which means she knew something. We're not saying what. We're just reading the words in order.

And then — six days after the $25 million settlement — Erika withdrew her own appeal in the Psaila case and asked the court to put it back on the active calendar immediately. Richards explained why: LHA Land LLC, which bought the $25M claim, wants to pursue the Psaila case because it involves American Express and other deep-pocket defendants. More money to recover. Erika's cooperation was the price of admission. She gave up her appeal. Discovery against her and American Express is now active.

Christopher Psaila — the designer whose business was destroyed after he made $934,000 worth of costumes for Erika and then had federal agents show up at his door — finally has his day in court.

Nobody won. Nobody lost. Everyone made a deal. Except, as always, the people who were owed the money in the first place.