Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne has been accused of strategically filing for divorce in order to protect her and ex-husband Tom Girardi’s assets amid lawsuits against his law firm.
Tom Girardi is being sued for embezzling funds that were intended to go to his clients for their settlement funds.
Class action firm Edelson PC alleges that Tom and Erika are divorcing in order to protect those embezzled funds.
The firm claims that Erika and Tom “are on the verge of financial collapse and locked in a downward spiral of mounting debts and dwindling funds” in a document obtained by Us Weekly.
The documents allege that Erika filed for divorce so that she can attain the embezzled funds that Tom’s lawsuits are seeking.
“While Erika publicly filed for divorce this month, on information and belief, that ‘divorce’ is simply a sham attempt to fraudulently protect Tom’s and Erika’s money from those that seek to collect on debts owed by Tom and his law firm GK,” the documents claim.
Tom’s lawsuits
Tom has multiple lawsuits against him for fraud and embezzlement. A recent lawsuit accuses him of embezzling funds from the families of victims who were involved in the Lion Air Flight 610 plane crash in 2018.
All 189 passengers and employees were killed during the crash.
Another lawsuit accuses him of embezzling settlement funds from victims who were exposed to toxic chemicals from TXI cement manufacturing facilities.
In 2008, he paired up with the Law Offices of Robert P. Finn to help the victims. The firm claimed that Tom hid fees he obtained from the clients.
A third lawsuit accused Tom of legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and conversion. Widow Judy Selberg hired Tom to represent her in a wrongful death case she filed on behalf of her late husband.
She accused Tom of inflating legal fees and stealing settlement funds.
Erika and Tom’s divorce
Erika filed for divorce from Tom on November 3. Sources close to her claimed that the pandemic helped her to reflect and realize that Tom isn’t a part of the next phase of her life.
Erika moved out of their $8.5 million mansion into a cozy one-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in L.A.
Erika and Tom had not signed a prenup, however, she has asked for spousal support since moving out.
Erika has now been accused of cheating on Tom during their 21-year marriage. Former RHOBH star Dana Wilkey claimed on her Instagram account that she knew that Erika had been visiting sex clubs with married music producer Scooter Braun.
Tom has also been accused of cheating. One New Year’s Eve, he was spotted in a nightclub with a blonde woman who wasn’t Erika.
Sources close to her have claimed that the romance in their relationship has fizzled out and the two acted more like friends than a married couple for years.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is currently on hiatus at Bravo.