Disgraced Attorney Tom Girardi Found Guilty of Embezzling More Than $15 Million

Tom Girardi has been found guilty on all four counts of wire fraud after a several week-long trial.

On Tuesday, August 27, a Los Angeles federal court reached a verdict, declaring the once renowned attorney guilty of embezzling more than $15 million from his clients .

"Tom Girardi built celebrity status and lured in victims by falsely portraying himself as a 'Champion of Justice,'" U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada stated while announcing the 85-year-old's conviction, per CBS News. "In reality, he was a Robin-Hood-in-reverse, stealing from the needy to support a lavish, Hollywood lifestyle."

The guilty verdict comes after Girardi, the estranged husband of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne , was accused of running a 10-year Ponzi scheme, in which his clients were defrauded of millions of dollars in settlement funds. Each count Girardi was found guilty of carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Throughout the intense trial, prosecutors alleged the disgraced lawyer — who was disbarred in July 2022 and charged with wire fraud in February 2023 — stole the money and used it to live a wealthy lifestyle, claiming Girardi spent the fraudulent cash on private jets, expensive jewelry, a Pasadena, Calif., mansion and simply splurging in order to keep up with Jayne's celebrity status.

Said accusations gained a heightened amount of attention back in 2021, thanks to the Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Hustler , however, Girardi and his legal team have continuously denied the claims.

Charles Snyder, the federal public defender representing Girardi, used his client's dementia and Alzheimer’s diagnoses to excuse his actions by saying the former lawyer’s cognitive impairments have worsened as a result of his health woes.

His defense team also argued members the ex-L.A. attorney’s now-shut down Girardi-Keese law firm had been stealing funds "hand over fist."

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"Girardi was not paying close attention" to the specifics of his company's operations as he "got old, got sick, and lost his mind," Snyder argued.

Still, prosecutors insisted Girardi knew what he was doing when defrauding his clients , as Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas doubled down on her belief his actions were intentional during closing arguments on Tuesday.

"He wanted the outside world to believe he was fighting for people who couldn't help themselves," Moghaddas declared in court.

According to a journalist from the Los Angeles Times , "a reporter asked Girardi if he wanted to comment on the verdict," after the final decision was revealed, per a post shared to X (formerly named Twitter.) "He chuckled and said, 'No. No.'"