Erika Jayne has been named in a new legal filing weeks after her recent embezzlement lawsuit dismissal amid the legal maneuvering around estranged husband Tom Girardi‘s alleged illicit activities.
As we reported late last month, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star had been officially freed from legal culpability in the ongoing investigation into alleged fraudulent activities at the 82-year-old lawyer’s Girardi & Keese firm.
But now, it appears that the 50-year-old reality TV star could be back on the hook again — at least according to new claims made in this latest filing.
Related: Erika Says She Will ‘Never’ Remarry Following Contentious Split From Tom Girardi
Erika and her company EJ Global, LLC were named in a new $2.1 million complaint filed on Thursday by attorney Manuel H. Miller. Per People, Miller filed the legal brief on behalf of Kathleen Bajgrowicz, the mother of late NFL football star Chuck Osborne, who died in 2012 following years of severe head trauma sustained while playing football.
In the suit, Miller claims Erika “aided and abetted” Tom’s alleged financial wrongdoings and “knew about the scheme” in which Girardi allegedly previously withheld money from clients, including Osborne’s estate. The suit also claims that Erika was “aware” that victims’ settlement money was “funding her notoriously lavish lifestyle” as shown on the hit Bravo reality TV show.
Bajgrowicz had previously sued the NFL regarding Osborne’s 2012 death, with Miller and Girardi jointly representing her in court and agreeing to share fees. After the grieving mother reached a settlement with the league, Erika’s estranged husband had been the one responsible for distributing funds to both Bajgrowicz and Miller.
However, they allege Girardi never did that, claiming in this new filing (below):
“[Girardi] lulled Plaintiffs into believing that the funds could not be distributed to anyone until various issues were first resolved. … Unknown to Plaintiffs, Girardi had already taken their money and breached his and the firm’s fiduciary duty to distribute the funds to Plaintiffs.”
More to the point regarding Erika, this new suit claims she was “intimately involved in Girardi & Keese’s business dealings.”
The court docs allege:
“[Jayne and Girardi] knew that Plaintiffs were fraud victims but did nothing to protect them and instead prioritized their own financial gain at Plaintiffs’ expense. Defendants should be required to compensate Plaintiffs for the harm they have caused and should be punished for aiding and abetting Girardi’s breach of fiduciary duty and their financial elder abuse of Plaintiffs.”
Wow.
Hours after the suit was first filed, Erika’s legal team took action with a public response.
Related: Erika Compared Herself To WHOM Amid Ongoing Legal Troubles?!
The reality TV star’s attorney Evan C. Borges released this statement to People about the new legal brief, plainly outlining that Erika “had no part” in the law firm’s alleged deception:
“The complaint is another misguided effort to blame Erika for the conduct of others in which she had no part. Erika has no law degree and never worked at or managed her former husband’s law firm. Whatever Mr. Girardi or others at his law firm did or said to the plaintiffs in this case, Erika had no knowledge or role in any of it. The focus should be on Mr. Girardi, his law firm, and anyone else who enabled what he did. Piling on Erika may generate publicity, but it’s without any basis in reality.”
Strong statement! Obviously, fresh off that aforementioned dismissal from late last month, Erika’s legal team is clearly optimistic that her fortunate run can continue.
Of course, as with all legal issues, all that really matters is how it plays out in court. Guess we’ll see soon enough…
The post Erika Jayne Again Accused Of 'Aiding And Abetting' Estranged Husband's Alleged Embezzlement Scheme In NEW Lawsuit appeared first on Perez Hilton.