Erika Jayne's Legal Woes Just Keep Getting Worse
Over the last year and a half, "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne has been embroiled in controversy. Back in November 2020, Jayne's personal life flooded the news when she filed for divorce from her husband, Tom Girardi, a high profile attorney. "After much consideration, I have decided to end my marriage to Tom Giardi," she wrote in a statement (via People). However, Jayne and her estranged husband faced more than messy divorce proceedings the following month when the families of the Lion Air Flight JT 610 crash victims slapped the two with a multi-million dollar embezzlement lawsuit.
In the legal filing, Girardi, his firm and Jayne were accused of embezzling money from a settlement for the families of the aforementioned victims. "At the heart of this deception, is Defendant Girardi and his need to fund outrageous lifestyles for himself and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Erika Jayne," the document stated (via People). Due to the high profile nature of the suit, Jayne's legal woes ended up being the focal point of "RHOBH" Season 11.
However, in January, things seemed to be looking up for Jayne after she was removed from the embezzlement lawsuit. "Pursuant to stipulation, plaintiff claims against defendants EJ Global LLC and Erika Girardi are dismissed without prejudice and without costs," the filing said (via Us Weekly). But even though she was released from the aforementioned case, her legal problems are far from over.
Erika Jayne responds to lawsuit allegation
Even though Erika Jayne was removed from the embezzlement lawsuit against Tom Girardi, she still has other legal fish to fry. In June 2021, two lawyers who formerly worked with Girardi's law firm filed a $5 million lawsuit against Jayne and her estranged husband. In legal documents obtained by Radar Online, Robert P. Finn and Philip R. Sheldon said they sent over numerous cases to Girardi's firm in exchange for a split of the attorney fees once the cases were completed. Unlike the aforementioned embezzlement case, Jayne was added due to her company EJ Global LLC being accused of using the plaintiffs money.
However, after nearly a year since filing the lawsuit, Finn and Sheldon have recently accused Jayne of obstructing the fraud investigation. In documents obtained by Page Six, the pair accused Jayne of purposely not filing her taxes for her EJ Global LLC, which has been suspended since February. "Plaintiffs cannot wait any longer as now Erika [Jayne] is using the suspension to gain an unfair advantage in the litigation," the document said.
Shortly after the motion was filed, Jayne took to Instagram and hit back against the accusation. "Extortion. This is what I'm dealing with," she wrote alongside a screenshot of her attorney's response. In an additional statement to Page Six, Jayne's lawyer Evan C Borgess said that due to her only being an "interest holder" in EJ Global, she isn't responsible for the business. "The Sheldon plaintiffs and their Twitter attorneys have no case," he said.