DTLA jury hears closing arguments in criminal trial against Tom Girardi

The once influential trial lawyer and former law firm owner Tom Girardi ran a massive Ponzi scheme for ten years to steal at least $15 million in settlement payments from his clients, a prosecutor told a jury in Los Angeles on Monday. The defense, however, argued that the disbarred lawyer should be acquitted because the firm’s former chief accountant actually orchestrated the scheme.

During closing arguments in Girardi’s trial, a federal prosecutor asked the jury to find the defendant guilty on four counts of wire fraud, alleging that he stole from clients and spent the money on private jets, golf club memberships, jewelry and the career of his now-estranged wife, “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne, and lied about it.

“He wanted the outside world to believe he was fighting for people who couldn’t help themselves,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas told the panel, adding that clients waiting for settlement payments “while days turned into months and months turned into years.”