Lawsuit Claims Erika Jayne & Tom Girardi used settlement money for “lavish lifestyle” using numerous companies owned by Jayne

Legal woes continue to cast a dark shadow over some cast members of the national TV reality show franchise The Real Housewives, this time on the West Coast in Beverly Hills.

The newest legal scandal to hit a Real Housewife star was launched last week, when Christina Fulton, 55, who is the ex-girlfriend of celebrity Nicolas Cage, filed a lawsuit against The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne; her disgraced ex-husband and attorney Tom Girardi, plus two colleagues. Fulton alleges the defendants committed theft and fraud.

Prior to this suit, in 2014, The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member Teresa Giudice, who served almost a year in prison, and her ex-husband Joe Giudice, who served 41 months and then was deported to Italy, had pled guilty to 39 counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, loan application fraud and bankruptcy fraud.

On Friday, July 15, Fulton filed a $744,300 lawsuit against the now-divorced Jayne and Girardi, plus two of his colleagues who worked at his now-defunct California law firm, Samantha Gold and John Kelley Courtney.

Court documents reveal Fulton accuses Jayne, Girardi, Gold and Courtney of misappropriating the money from a large settlement. The settlement was a result of a 2016 car accident. Fulton sustained severe injuries in the accident.

Fulton joins a long list of individuals and organizations suing Girardi and his shuttered law firm, Girardi & Keese.

At the time of the settlement, Girardi’s then-respectable law firm handled Fulton’s case. Girardi, who was married to Jayne at the time, was famous for his handling of successful, famous lawsuits that brought in headline-making settlements.

In a spectacular fall from grace for Girardi, including his 2020 divorce filing from Jayne after twenty years of marriage, his alleged theft of many millions from clients such as seniors, orphans, and others, resulted in the shuttering of his longtime law firm. There are over 670 claims against Girardi & Keese law firm, with claims upwards of over $495 million at play.

In court documents, Fulton said she was blindsided by what she learned about her settlement funds. She said she “newly discovered financial documents…(that the) settlement check” was allegedly “deposited into a Girardi & Keese bank account without her consent.”

The lawsuit claims, "This was a complete outright forgery as never endorsed this check and certainly never agreed to have it deposited.”

Court documents state, “Plaintiff did not know where her money went until now. On July 14, 2022, Plaintiff discovered that all of her remaining Settlement Funds were dissipated and that her Girardi & Keese attorneys, Gold and Courtney, had lied to her. It was just discovered how the Settlement payment was made.”

Another allegation in this lawsuit is that the actual check was a forgery and was never deposited into the agreed-upon trust set up for the settlement funds.

The lawsuit says, “The Girardi Keese firm had the audacity to endorse the check ¨To be deposited in trust for Christina Fulton.¨ This negotiated check was in fact a forgery and a lie. The check was never held in trust but spent. It is beyond shocking and the pale that the Firm would conceal the arrival of the check and not obtain Ms. Fulton´s endorsement as required by law.”

Fulton, after legal fees, was reportedly awarded $939,000 but only received a $5,000 advance and $190,000. Currently, the suit states, she has not received $744,300 of her settlement.

Jayne is also named in the lawsuit because Fulton found out her settlements were “diverted” to the Real Housewife star’s company, ‘EJ Global’ and then transferred to another company, Pretty Mess Inc.

Fulton’s lawsuit states she believes that her settlement funds were stolen to cover Jayne and then-husband Girardi’s “lavish lifestyle.” The suit alleges $25 million deposited into EJ Global was taken in part from Fulton’s settlement funds.

'The funds were treated as community property,' the lawsuit claims.

Further allegations included in the suit claim Jayne “used the money to pay off her expenses. For at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid by Girardi Keese as she was generating them. No one withdrew money from the firm other than Erika Girardi.”

Jayne’s attorney said she had no involvement with Girardi’s company finances or clients.

“The focus should be on Tom Girardi and, where supported by evidence, the lawyers, accountants, and financiers who enabled his misconduct and wrongdoing,” the attorney said.

However, the lawsuit strongly disagrees, alleging, "Plaintiff recently discovered through bank records and other financial documents that the Settlement Funds were diverted to Erika, via EJG and the intellectual property and value transferred to EJG was transferred to PMI. Plaintiff is informed and believes and, on that basis alleges thereon, that as Girardi’s clients’ cases settled, Girardi would receive the settlement funds, and in turn, Tom and Erika would use those funds as their own assets. Tom and Erika would use those funds to pay for their lavish lifestyle. The funds were treated as community property. Erika used the money to pay off her expenses. For at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid by Girardi Keese as she was generating them. No one withdrew money from the firm other than Erika Girardi.”

Jayne is also named in another large lawsuit. The $50 million racketeering lawsuit, plus a $5 million fraud lawsuit, alleges her involvement in court documents. Jayne was also named with Girardi in the class action $2 million lawsuit accusing them of fraud and embezzling settlement funds for victims of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 Crash, where all 189 passengers died. However, she was dismissed from the lawsuit against Girardi and denies any involvement.

Girardi was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2021 and is now living in a nursing home under a conservatorship. His company bankruptcy filings show that Girardi Keese owes more than $100 million to creditors, including Tom Girard’s personal injury clients, lenders, and other attorneys.