A Judge Ruled That Tom Girardi’s Embezzlement Victims Can Collect Payments From Erika Jayne

July 8, 2021 / Posted by:

Since filing for divorce from crooked geriatric lawyer Tom Girardi, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne has had to cut back on her spending. 49-year-old Erika was forced to rent (gasp!) a $7,500 a month mini-mansion with just 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 1 pool. She had to sell a bunch of her designer clothes and shoes cuz they wouldn’t fit in her house. She also traded in her Lamborghini for… gulp… a brand new Range Rover?! I know. Disgusting. But now Erika, who’s still insisting she knew nothing about Tom’s alleged crimes, is extra fucked. A judge in one of Tom’s lawsuits has ruled that ex-clients/embezzlement victims Joe Ruigomez, Jaime Ruigomez, and Kathleen Ruigomez can file a lawsuit against Erika to collect their stolen $11 million. Goodbye rental mansion and Range Rover… hellooo shack in the woods and old jalopy (it’s a reverse Beverly Hillbillies).

The Ruigomez family’s plight was detailed in the documentary The Housewife and the Hustler. Joe lost his girlfriend and suffered near-fatal injuries in a gas line explosion in 2010. Tom represented him in a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and the settlement was millions and millions of dollars. Tom suggested that he could take the money, invest it, and dispense the money to Joe in monthly payments. But Tom became increasingly difficult to reach and the payments stopped entirely in 2017. Tom had (allegedly, LOL) stolen it. And Joe still needs a lifetime of expensive surgeries to treat his burns.

So the Ruigomez family filed a lawsuit against Tom. Last year, Tom allegedly agreed to pay them $12 million, signing a document saying he’d make a $1 million payment, followed by a second $2.5 million payment. But Joe never got the second payment. The judge had previously placed a stay on collections (so a pause on the Ruigomezes getting money, according to a lazy Google) from Tom’s assets while his law firm, Girardi Keese, was investigated by a bankruptcy trustee after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy late last year.

But recently the bankruptcy’s trustee’s special litigation counsel reported that Tom’s law firm had transferred $20 million in loans to Erika’s various businesses. That’s the reason the judge ruled that Erika’s fortune was fair game. via People:

All assets identified by the Ruigomez family shall be subject to all rights of the Girardi bankruptcy estate and the [Girardi Keese] bankruptcy estate, which parties shall meet and confer in good faith to determine the character/ownership of the identified assets,” the new document states, later adding, “The Ruigomez Family, the Girardi Trustee and the GK Trustee shall cooperate with each other with their collection efforts against Erika.”

This is just one of the lawsuits against 82-year-old Tom. He’s also being sued for embezzling funds from several families who lost family members in a 2018 Boeing plane crash in Indonesia. And his business partners are suing him.  

On June 23, the petitioning creditors in the bankruptcy case filed a motion that accused Erika of refusing to turn over bank statements and other documents to the bankruptcy trustee investigating Tom. They also claimed she was using her “glam” lifestyle to hide assets:

“As each day goes by, Erika has been publicly dissipating community assets by selling her clothes on public websites, flaunting large jewels on social media and on television, and has done nothing to assist in return structured firm payments being made to her instead of the firm by the California lottery, notwithstanding she was contacted through counsel over twelve days ago.”

A week before that, Erika was dropped by her lawyers because “the relationship of trust and confidence that is essential to a properly functioning attorney-client relationship has broken down.” But they took her back a day later. Mysterious.

More bad news for Erika: she’s been dropped as a model for Rihanna’s lingerie line Savage x Fenty. Sources say the company will not renew her six-month contract. Apparently, RiRi didn’t love all the headlines about one of her models possibly stealing from orphans and burn victims. The source told The Sun:

“It’s no secret Rihanna is a huge fan of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and loved Erika Jayne. Her team called her to be an ambassador last year and she appeared in their second fashion show, they were thrilled to have her on board.

“But amid the scandal, they have no current plans to work with her, there have been discussions and at the minute they think it’s a bad look. Erika is under fire right now, it’s unlikely she’ll be paid for promoting Savage x Fenty anytime soon.

A source “close to Erika” told The Sun that Savage x Fenty was very happy with Erika, but her contract had reached a natural end. They added:

“The campaign shots were well received, but Erika is set to launch her own lingerie line, so she wouldn’t be able to sign anything,” they said.

“For obvious reasons, the line is on hold at the moment, but it’s definitely coming and she’s excited about it.”

Oh boy, I can’t wait to buy myself some sexy Erika Jayne underwear! Didja hear? All proceeds go towards Erika’s cosmetic surgery fund. Beverly Hills’ finest doctors gotta keep those fillers up to date so our girl’s face doesn’t melt off her skull in the hot Californian sun! #charity

Pic: YouTube

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