‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ fans are watching Erika Jayne’s co-stars starting to learn about the trail of alleged thieving from orphans and widows her estranged husband, Tom Girardi…and possibly Erika herself, have left behind them in order to fund their lavish lifestyle.
In real time, some 8 months after the show was filmed, Girardi has informed a Chicago federal judge he will invoke his right to remain silent and not testify at an upcoming contempt hearing if he is called to the stand. The hearing is connected to the Lion Air Flight 610 (one of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes) case, creating the aforementioned widows and orphans.
‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Erika Jayne’s Estranged Husband,Tom Girardi Refuses to Testify in Court
Girardi and his law firm, the since disbanded GirardiKeese, are being held in contempt for misappropriating at least $2 million in client funds intended for the families of those killed in the devastating plane crash.
Girardi’s conduct has been labeled as ‘unconscionable’ and he is currently under criminal investigation. Meanwhile a separate lawsuit has been filed against Girardi, accusing him and his estranged wife Erika Jayne of embezzling the Lion Air settlement funds, along with funds from clients separate from the Air Lion crash, to keep up their ‘public image of obscene wealth’, despite being over the ‘verge of financial collapse’. Before the company dissolved it was said GirardiKeese had less than $15000 in funds available in its accounts.
One of the biggest bones of contention, which was mentioned on Wednesday, August 11’s episodes of RHOBH, was the $20 million in ‘loans’ that were funneled from Girardi’s law firm to Erica’s businesses.
Speaking about the latest headlines (back in December, as per the Bravo show’s timeline) Erika’s co-star Sutton Stracke explained that, no matter if Erika really didn’t know where the loans were coming from, she is 100% responsible for what funds are deposited into her LLC (limited liability company) and will very likely face charges, possibly jail time.
For the record, it seems Sutton and other BH housewives are not so ‘ride or die’ anymore and are no longer so sure about the “clueless, kept wife” schtick Erika is sticking to on the show, especially considering it’s a 180 degree turn from her previous 5 seasons of a “boss bitch” persona. It even seems some are starting to doubt the validity of Erika’s claims of her husband’s alleged infidelity which she is claiming led to their divorce after 2 decades together.
Lawyers believe the divorce is an act to protect their money from debt collectors and they are following this season of RHOBH carefully.
“The show is a treasure trove of self-authenticating admissions from non-scripted actors who did not anticipate that many months later those statements would come back to haunt them or that they would be investigated,” Ronald Richards, the attorney investigating the bankruptcy case of GirardiKeese said a statement.
“This is because none of the housewives have a duty to tell the truth on television. They are now caught in [an] undesirable legal position, were they lying then or now,” Richards explained, before adding, “There’s a lot of inconsistent statements and admissions made by the non-scripted actors that we’re putting together to use in court.”
There is no set date for when this or any other court case directly involving Erika could happen but if Sutton is right, (and by the looks of the filings against the reality star, she is) $h!ts about to go down!
Keep watching RHOBH, Wednesdays on Bravo!
For any other soap opera and entertainment news, please visit again Daily Soap Dish. Don’t forget to visit The Go To Family for all of the latest travel news.
