Many Housewives face legal issues, but none have had levels of disgust quite like Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi. In the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 trailer, Erika repeatedly denied knowledge of Tom’s alleged tricky bookkeeping that may or may not have funded her “music career”. Erika also filed for divorce from Big Tommy right before the shit hit the fan, which raised some eyebrows. Fun fact: Erika has been on the Board of Directors at GIRARDI FINANCIAL since 1999, which doesn’t help her cries of “Only HE knows…” Perhaps Sutton Stracke could bring this up next time Erika bares her teeth.
Victims of Tom’s supposed swindling don’t have the luxury of posting lingerie shots on Insta and moving into $1.5 million homes. Tom has been forced into bankruptcy in an effort to discharge his debts, but one former client isn’t backing down. A victim of the PG&E gas explosion who was burned over 90% of his body now adds his name to the long list of people wanting Tom to pay the piper.
Let’s review. Along with allegedly not paying vendors or service providers over the years, Tom also hasn’t paid desperate clients. There was an airplane crash that claimed lives and left living relatives with enormous debt. A woman’s husband died in a boating accident and she never received her payout. And then we have Joseph Ruigomez.
In 2010, a Pacific Gas & Electric pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California. Joseph Ruigomez and his neighbors had their community leveled and eight people, including Joseph’s fiancé, were killed. Joseph escaped with his life, but his suffering was immense. He had burns over the majority of his body and a lifetime of surgery ahead to recover from the extensive damage. Tom’s firm represented Joseph in a personal injury lawsuit against PG&E and won, but Joseph never received settlement money.
RELATED: Tom Girardi’s Firm Owes “Hundreds Of Clients” More than $26 Million In Unpaid Settlement Funds
According to documents obtained by Radar Online, Joseph filed a lawsuit as part of Big Tommy’s involuntary bankruptcy case. Tom is accused of refusing to pay millions owed to Joseph’s family. Tom’s camp filed bankruptcy after his creditors teamed up and a trustee was appointed to take control of his remaining finances. Tom and Erika’s Pasadena Palace is up for sale, but Erika is trying to get her share because obviously she needs more support than someone who will deal with skin grafts for the rest of his life. Ideally the money is to be used to pay Tom’s debts.
Tom reportedly has $74 million in assets with $56 million in liabilities and his creditors are scrambling to get paid. Joseph’s legal papers state he is owed $11.5 million and it should not be discharged in Chapter 7. PG&E agreed to pay $11 million to settle the lawsuit, but Joseph never saw his share. Instead, Big Tommy advised the family he would “invest” the money for them. OH HELL NO. Tom claimed the investment would earn interest at a guaranteed rate of at least 6.5%. Um, Jan is horrified right now but just muttered, “sure”.
RELATED: Bankruptcy Trustee In Legal Case Against Tom Girardi Requests Special Counsel To Sue Erika Jayne In An Attempt To Recover Assets
Tom made a couple of payments towards the “investment” but then stopped. Furthermore, “Despite repeated promises to pay the Ruigomez’s their remaining amount due, Debtor and GK [Girardi Keese] failed to pay the Ruigomez’s the entirety of their funds due and owing.” The family doesn’t believe Tom actually invested the money. Well, he probably did but in the name of $40k a month for glam. Tom was supposedly facing “dire financial straits“, like one does when Cartier Panther rings have a retail price of $50k.
Joseph’s family are owed roughly $11,747,245.95. Tom is busy claiming he has Alzheimer’s Disease and Erika is busy growling at anyone who dares to ask her knowledge of Tom’s business dealings. The ice queen might finally be melting and I’m not talking about her make-up since the glam squad left. Stay tuned, it’s about to get worse for Tom and Erika.
RELATED: Former Lender Provides Signatures That Could Prove Erika Jayne’s Direct Knowledge Of Tom Girardi’s Financial Issues
TELL US- DO YOU THINK ERIKA KNEW? ARE YOU SURPRISED BY TOM’S ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES? WILL THE VICTIMS GET THEIR MONEY FROM TOM?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
