Steve Eichner / AP Erika Girardi and Tom Girardi
In November 2020, Erika Girardi, also known as Erika Jayne, shocked fans of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills when she filed for divorce from husband Tom Girardi, who is over 20 years old. What has followed since then are allegations of embezzlement and embezzlement, so we won’t blame you if you are still catching up. Here is everything you need to know:
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The two first met when Erika was a cocktail waitress at Chasen’s restaurant in Los Angeles, where he was a regular, she told PEOPLE in 2018. After a year-long friendship, Girardi questioned them. They married in the facility in 1999.
Girardi told PEOPLE in 2018, “What was really important to me was my relationship. Tom wouldn’t change. He was a grown man. It was really two people who got together and really enjoyed each other’s company. “She added,” Tom is so bright. He understands the trick to living. I love getting his advice. “
The couple’s age gap – 33 years old – has long been the subject of discussions at the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She said to PEOPLE, “Everyone thought I was going to marry him to have a baby and lock the money, ugly as that sounds.”
Bravo Erika and Tom Girardi
On November 3, 2020, after 22 years of marriage, Erika, 49, filed for divorce from Tom, 81. In a statement from PEOPLE, Erika said: “After much deliberation, I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi. This is not a frivolous or easy step. I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the life we together have built. “
“It is my absolute desire to continue this process with the respect and privacy that both Tom and I deserve,” she added. “I ask others to give us this privacy too.”
According to Erika’s petition for divorce received by PEOPLE, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars were demanding that she receive marital assistance from Tom, and also called for the court’s ability to provide marital assistance to her ex to be ended. The couple don’t have a prenup.
The story goes on
Tom responded with a request to end the court’s ability to provide conjugal assistance to Erika. He also asked her to pay the legal fees.
“After much deliberation, I decided to end my marriage to Tom Girardi. This is not a frivolous or easy step. I have great love and respect for Tom and for our years and the life we have built together.”
– Erika Girardi
A month after the shocking split, it was announced that the couple was being sued for allegedly using their separation to embezzle money.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars and her husband are being sued by the Edelson PC law firm on behalf of several families who lost loved ones in a plane crash in Boeing, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Illinois on Dec. 3.
In court documents obtained from PEOPLE, plaintiffs allege that Tom and Erika embezzled settlement funds to help the families of the victims on Lion Air Flight 610.
“Tom has tried to embezzle the proceeds of settlements that should have been directed to his customers – including the widows and orphans who lost their loved ones in the tragic crash of Lion Air Flight 610 – in order to continue to lavish funding for his and Erika’s Lifestyle in Beverly Hills, “the documents read.
Tom’s law firm Girardi & Keese (GK) is also named in the lawsuit alleging that both Tom and the firm “are on the verge of financial collapse and are in a downward spiral of rising debts and dwindling funds”.
The lawsuit alleges that this incident is not “Tom’s first attempt to hide and divert assets,” and that their divorce is indeed a tactic to protect their finances.
“While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month after divorce and conviction, this ‘divorce’ is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom and Erika’s money from those attempting to collect the debt owed by Tom and his law firm, GK.” Suit states.
Edelson PC and Erika declined to comment on the case and Tom did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Bravo Tom and Erika Girardi
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Girardi was held in civil contempt on December 14 after attending a court hearing in Chicago by telephone and failing to explain to U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin where at least $ 2 million of the crash came from. Agreement came from Lion Air Flight 610, which departed Jakarta, Indonesia in October 2018.
Tom and his law firm Girardi & Keese (GK) are held in civil contempt and have their assets frozen by the judge.
According to an attorney at Tom’s law firm, Tom has “been unavailable for the past few weeks due to a serious illness that resulted in his being hospitalized and treated for.” The Los Angeles Times reported that “one attorney said in court that Girardi ‘had mental literacy problems” and another asked the judge to order a “mental health test.”
Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty
Then, on December 15, Tom was hit by another lawsuit brought by his legal partner, Robert Keese.
In PEOPLE court documents, Keese and his business associates, Robert Finnerty and Jill O’Callahan, are suing Tom for liquidating their company known as 1126 Wilshire Partnership.
Plaintiffs claim Tom never paid them about $ 315,000 in partnership income and instead kept the money to himself. They further claim that he took out loans against the property without their knowledge in order to obtain “his personal gain, benefit and utility”.
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Days later, a source told PEOPLE that Tom’s alleged infidelity was the reason Erika filed for divorce from the lawyer.
Erika said “the reason she divorced Tom is because he cheated on her with several women,” a source close to the couple told PEOPLE, adding that Erika claimed “she has known for years about his infidelity “, but” wanted to try to save the marriage. “
“When she performed them on Broadway last week, he left them up and dry and bustling around town instead of supporting them and attending their shows,” the insider said. “She realized that she would never be a priority for him and that was her breaking point.”
“The split lasted a long time. The lawsuit only coincided with her decision to leave him,” the source said.
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