By FRED SHUSTER
LOS ANGELES — Disgraced former attorney Tom Girardi, co-founder of the defunct Los Angeles law firm Girardi Keese, appeared in federal court today and had a not-guilty plea entered on his behalf to charges of embezzling more than $15 million from several of his legal clients.
The 83-year-old Girardi — estranged husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne — has Alzheimer’s disease and in June 2021 was deemed incompetent to manage his own affairs. He was disbarred a year later and is currently living in an Orange County assisted living facility.
During his appearance Monday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, Girardi was allowed to remain free on $250,000 bond.
Girardi was indicted last week by a grand jury on five counts of wire fraud, a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. He is also charged in a second criminal case filed in Chicago, where he faces eight additional wire fraud counts.
When asked last week about Girardi’s ability to stand trial in light of reports of his dementia, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the defendant’s competency “has not been evaluated by a federal criminal court.”
Also charged in the indictment unsealed Wednesday was Christopher Kamon, 49, formerly of Encino and Rancho Palos Verdes, the firm’s former chief financial officer.
The indictment alleges that, from 2010 to December 2020, Girardi and Kamon fraudulently obtained more than $15 million that belonged to the firm’s clients.
Estrada said the defendants engaged in a “widespread scheme to steal from their clients and lie to them to cover up the fraud. In doing so, they allegedly preyed on the very people who trusted and relied upon them the most — their clients.”
Girardi’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
To conceal the theft and misappropriation of settlement money in the Los Angeles case, Girardi and Kamon allegedly lied to clients, stating falsely, among other…
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