>> Tom Girardi Sentence
LOS ANGELES – Disbarred plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney Thomas Vincent Girardi was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for leading a years-long scheme in which he embezzled tens of millions of dollars of settlement money that belonged to his clients, some of whom awaited payment for treatment of severe physical injuries.
Girardi, 86, formerly of Pasadena and who now resides in Seal Beach, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton also ordered Girardi to pay a $35,000 fine and $2,310,247 in restitution. Judge Staton ordered Girardi to surrender to federal authorities no later than July 17.
Girardi was found guilty by a jury in August 2024 of four counts of wire fraud.
“This self-proclaimed ‘champion of justice’ was nothing more than a thief and a liar who conned his vulnerable clients out of the millions of dollars,” said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “My office will vigorously prosecute corrupt lawyers and those who assist them in criminal activities.”
“This sentencing brings a level of recompense for countless victims of Mr. Girardi’s long-running scheme to enrich himself on the backs of clients who trusted him in some of their worst days,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. “Mr. Girardi thought he could outsmart his victims and investigators, but this sentencing demonstrates criminals cannot evade the unrivaled acumen of IRS-CI special agents in following the money, as well as the effectiveness of our partnerships with fellow law enforcement organizations like the FBI.”
“Mr. Girardi, once a self-proclaimed ‘legal legend’ who purported to fight corporate greed, will now find himself on the opposite end of justice as he serves out his lengthy prison sentence,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Years of hard work went into this case by agents and prosecutors motivated to pursue justice for the victims who were betrayed by Girardi after putting their trust in his corrupt law firm in their time of need and while enduring personal hardship.”
A once-powerful figure in California’s legal community, Girardi ran the now-defunct downtown Los Angeles law firm Girardi Keese. For years, Girardi misappropriated and embezzled millions of dollars from client trust accounts at his law firm. The scheme involved defendant Girardi stealing millions of dollars in client settlement funds and failing to pay Girardi Keese clients – some of whom had suffered serious injuries in accidents – the money they were owed.
In carrying out his criminal conduct, from October 2010 to late 2020, Girardi operated Girardi Keese like a Ponzi-scheme by providing a litany of lies for failure to pay clients and directing law firm employees, including co-defendant and former Girardi Keese CFO Christopher Kazuo Kamon, to make incremental payments of newly obtained settlement funds to previously defrauded clients or using the new funds to pay other unrelated expenditures.
Girardi sent lulling communications to the defrauded clients that, among other things, falsely denied that the settlement proceeds had been paid and falsely claimed that Girardi Keese could not pay the settlement proceeds to clients until certain purported requirements had been met. These bogus requirements included addressing supposed tax obligations, settling bankruptcy claims, obtaining supposedly necessary authorizations from judges, and satisfying other debts.
Girardi also diverted tens of millions of dollars from his law firm’s operating account to pay illegitimate expenses, including more than $25 million to pay the expenses of EJ Global, a company formed by his wife related to her entertainment career, as well as spent millions of dollars of Girardi Keese funds on private jet travel, jewelry, luxury cars, and exclusive golf and social clubs.
At the end of 2020, as Girardi and his law firm faced mounting legal problems related to his years-long theft of client funds, Girardi Keese was forced into involuntary bankruptcy. The State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022.
Relatedly, co-defendant Kamon, 51, formerly of Encino and Palos Verdes and who was residing in The Bahamas at the time of his November 2022 arrest on a federal criminal complaint, pleaded guilty in October 2024 to two counts of wire fraud. Kamon, the long-time head of the accounting department at Girardi Keese, aided and abetted Girardi’s fraud scheme and embezzled millions of dollars from Girardi Keese itself for his own benefit.
On April 11, Kamon was sentenced to 121 months in custody and ordered to pay $8,903,324 in restitution. Kamon has been in federal custody since November 2022.
Kamon has agreed to plead guilty to federal fraud charges in Chicago where he is charged along with former Girardi Keese lawyer David R. Lira, Girardi’s son-in-law. Trial in that case is scheduled to start on July 14. Girardi was dismissed from the Chicago case because of his conviction and sentencing in this case.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the FBI investigated this matter. The Office of the United States Trustee provided assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney Scott Paetty of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.
Release No. 25-164
