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Tom Girardi, the once-vaunted Los Angeles trial legal professional, was indicted by federal grand juries in two states on fraud costs amid allegations of swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from injured and wounded purchasers, prosecutors introduced Wednesday.
In Chicago, Girardi and his son-in-law, legal professional David Lira, and the previous chief monetary officer of Girardi’s regulation agency, Christopher Kamon, have been charged with eight counts of wire fraud and 4 counts of contempt of court docket. Prosecutors mentioned they misappropriated greater than $3 million in settlement funds from the kinfolk of those that died in an Indonesian airplane crash.
In Los Angeles, Girardi was charged with wire fraud following accusations of embezzling greater than $15 million from purchasers and utilizing the funds to cowl his regulation agency’s payroll and pay his private bills, together with a hefty American Specific invoice and charges at two nation golf equipment. The L.A. case additionally contains costs towards Kamon, the previous CFO, and signifies that he and his boss “devised, participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud sufferer purchasers” from 2010 till the agency, Girardi Keese, collapsed in late 2020.
The prosecution marks the newest chapter in Girardi’s downfall and follows in depth reporting by The Occasions on how Girardi eluded self-discipline by the State Bar regardless of going through many years of credible accusations of misappropriating his purchasers’ cash.
“Mr. Girardi and Mr. Kamon stand accused of participating in a widespread scheme to steal from their purchasers and mislead them to cowl up the fraud,” the U.S. legal professional in L.A., Martin Estrada, mentioned in a press release. “In doing so, they allegedly preyed on the very individuals who trusted and relied upon them essentially the most — their purchasers. Actions like those alleged within the indictment convey disrepute upon the authorized occupation and won't be tolerated by my workplace.”
In Chicago, U.S. Lawyer John R. Lausch Jr. mentioned of Lira and Girardi: “Attorneys who violate the belief of their purchasers and breach a fiduciary obligation that's paramount to the apply of regulation have to be held accountable.”
Representatives for Girardi, Lira and Kamon didn't instantly reply to requests for remark.
The prosecution of the 83-year-old former legal professional, who was recognized with Alzheimer’s illness by a doctor in March 2021, units the stage for a authorized battle over whether or not Girardi is match to face trial.
Now residing in a reminiscence care facility in Orange County, Girardi is topic to a court-ordered conservatorship that offers his youthful brother, Robert, a dentist in Seal Seaside, authority to make selections for him about healthcare and funds.
Conservatorship information point out that Girardi has been prescribed medicine for dementia and can be affected by blindness in a single eye and “listening to points.”
In L.A. authorized circles, many have questioned whether or not the authorized legend claimed dementia to keep away from the results of his misconduct. The primary assertion that he has critical cognitive issues was by means of a felony protection lawyer at a December 2020 listening to the place a federal court docket choose was confronting him with proof that he had stolen hundreds of thousands from purchasers.
Officers from the State Bar of California even went to court docket to problem the conservatorship a couple of weeks after the analysis, saying that the continuing was occurring underneath “extremely uncommon circumstances” and that the proof of impairment was “sparse.” In a submitting, they famous that the month earlier than the declare of cognitive issues, Girardi had hosted a unbroken training class for legal professionals on complicated litigation methods. Company officers requested for extra in depth neurological testing for the lawyer, however the request was denied.
Occasions investigation of Tom Girardi
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