Tom Girardi, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Girardi, has arrived in court.
After the former attorney, 83, was indicted on fraud charges last week for allegedly stealing from the families of victims in a 2018 plane crash, Girardi was photographed Monday arriving at a courthouse in Los Angeles beside his attorneys.
According to court documents previously obtained by PEOPLE, Girardi is facing eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court by a federal grand jury in Chicago.
Along with two other employees of his law firm Girardi Keese, he allegedly stole more than $3 million intended for relatives of victims killed in the crash of Lion Air Flight 610, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, said in a press release.
David R. Lira and Christopher K. Kamon are both also charged with 12 criminal counts each. Kamon was head of the firm's accounting and finance department.
Girardi and Lira represented five clients whose family members were killed in the 2018 crash. They filed lawsuits against the plane's manufacturer, Boeing Co., and settled the suits in 2020, according to the press release.
Along with Kamon, they are accused of stealing more than $3 million of settlement funds for "improper purposes, including paying the firm's payroll and operating expenses, and funding settlements to other Girardi Keese clients."
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