Lara Sophia 
Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of RHOBH star Erika Jayne, was found competent to stand trial despite his “rude” outburst in court.
Disgraced attorney Tom Girardi will stand trial for his alleged crimes.
Page Six reports that a Los Angeles federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Tom Girardi is competent enough to stand trial for fraud despite claims the once-famed Los Angeles attorney suffers from late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton filed his three-sentence order under written seal after presiding over a three-day hearing last year in August.
The 84-year-old is “accused of federal wire fraud charges and other counts in two jurisdictions — Los Angeles and Chicago” in connection with the misappropriation of $18 million dollars in client settlement funds.
People close to Tom Girardi have claimed that he has suffered from dementia for years while inhibiting his ability to understand the changes against or know what happened to the millions of dollars that belonged to clients of his now-defunct Girardi Keese law firm.
“He still thinks he’s practicing law,” Tom’s estranged wife and RHOBH star Erika Jayne told Andy Cohen in 2022 on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.
In January 2021, Tom was diagnosed with Alzheimers and was placed in a conservatorship overseen by his younger brother. Tom currently lives in a memory care facility.
This all came just months after Tom’s house of cards collapsed in December 2020, which is why many have questioned his diagnosis. In the weeks and days leading up to Girardi Keese crumbling, Tom was running the firm and working with clients on a daily basis with no signs of mental struggle.
Many, including the California State Bar, were suspicious that Tom Girardi, who was ultimately disbarred in 2022, was faking his dementia in order to escape prosecution for his alleged crimes. The State Bar of California noted in one filing that claims of Tom’s mental capacity issues “only after [Girardi] became enmeshed in mounting legal troubles.”
The former RHOBH husband will now stand trial for a February 2023 indictment for allegedly embezzling $15 million from his former clients.
He was charged with five counts of wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.
The trial will most likely take place in mid to late 2024.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
10 comments
Send him and her to jail. Scammers and Cons from the start. Victims deserve more.
There is a reason Erika and Tom are still married:
“Spousal Privilege” it’s protecting both of them.
She is just as nasty and guilty as he is.
The question I have is will his testimony be truthful and implicate Erika for her obvious part (signing loan docs, tax returns, etc, and spending the embezzled cash) in all of this.
She stayed married to agree to not testify against him in exchange for the lawyer friend to hold money to pay her rent. IMO and others. Will she keep the deal or testify against him to save herself? I would bet if a lawyer tells her she’ll be next, she’ll do whatever in exchange, of course.
Yes! However she will have to lie to save herself as she was in on it all the way. He may say she didn’t know anything bc he knows he’s going to die soon anyway. She still talks to him and acts nicey nicey hoping he doesn’t pull her down. She is the worst!!!!! His kids must hate her.
Oh, I bet they wish her the absolute worst. I’m sure they blame her for all of it even though he did it. So much for their inheritance! Surely she is legally an accessory or somehow implicated if he his convicted of something.
I don’t think he’s faking it, but he IS now low hanging fruit who happens to be the PERFECT fall guy for ALL the corruption that allowed for this to happen to the degree it did for as long as it did. Convenient, ain’t it? ? And no, I’m NOT saying Tom is in any way, shape or form innocent (cuz I know someone out there is chomping at the bit to froth at the mouth, virtue signaling with fury and gusto so can it ??). Two things can be true at once. Tom can be guilty as eff AND senile. My point is, Tom being ‘competent’ to stand trial virtually ensures a guilty verdict and gives the bloodthirsty outrage mob their pound of flesh (cuz that’s all they care about) whilst taking the heat off ALL the power players who, without their cooperation, Tom would have been indicted for his shenanigans 20+ years ago. See how that works? Neat, huh?
I think he has some level of dementia now but capable enough to answer questions. If found guilty, wouldn’t that put the heat on Erika?
Well, sure anything to distract from where the lion’s share of the heat belongs. ?