LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge will hear arguments Wednesday on whether disgraced Los Angeles attorney Tom Girardi is competent to stand trial on federal charges of embezzling millions of dollars from clients.
The 84-year-old Girardi -- estranged husband of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne -- is facing multiple charges of wire fraud, a crime carrying a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years on each count.
A government psychologist has concluded that, despite what defense attorneys insist is a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, Girardi is able to stand trial and competent to assist in his own defense. He was disbarred last year and is currently living in an Orange County assisted living facility.
The indictment alleges that, from 2010 to December 2020, Girardi and his law firm's former chief financial officer fraudulently obtained more than $15 million that belonged to clients.
Girardi, of Seal Beach, who owned the downtown Los Angeles-based Girardi Keese law firm, is free on $250,000 bond.
His attorneys wrote in documents lodged in Los Angeles federal court that the defendant is unable to understand the legal proceedings against him and has memory issues tied to Alzheimer's disease.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in February that 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.
The competency determination will be up to U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who will arguments from both sides Wednesday.
To conceal the alleged theft and misappropriation of settlement money in the case, Girardi and co-defendant Christopher Kamon lied to clients, stating falsely, among other things, that the funds had not been paid, prosecutors say. Girardi also falsely told clients that settlement proceeds could not be disbursed until certain purported requirements had been met, such as eliminating purported tax obligations, obtaining supposedly necessary authorizations from judges, and satisfying medical liens and other debts, the government alleges.
Girardi became widely known when he was thanked in the credits of the 2001 Oscar-winning film "Erin Brockovich," for which he served as an adviser. The attorney was part of the legal team when Brockovich successfully sued Pacific Gas & Electric in 1993 for contaminating the groundwater of a small California town.
Estrada said that, behind a public persona of integrity, for which he received numerous awards and commendations, Girardi was "robbing and stealing from those people he claimed to be championing" and "committing fraud on a massive scale."
After he was disbarred last year, the State Bar of California said it had received 205 complaints against Girardi alleging he misappropriated settlement money, abandoned clients and committed other serious ethical violations over the course of his four-decade career.
Girardi Keese, famous for representing plaintiffs in large-scale civil litigation against major corporations, collapsed in late 2020 after Girardi was accused in a Chicago lawsuit of embezzling money meant for clients the firm was representing in litigation over an airline crash in Indonesia. The lawsuit brought by plaintiffs' firm Edelson PC has since been transferred to Los Angeles.
Girardi is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, as is the now- shuttered Wilshire Boulevard law firm that bore his name, which faces more than $500 million in claims.