Erika Jayne Demands Gag Order In Embezzlement Investigation, Lawyer Calls It Deflection!
Erika Jayne is trying to silence a lawyer from speaking out about the embezzlement scandal surrounding the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star.
Radar Online has obtained court documents that reveal that Ronald Richards, the lawyer assigned to investigate Erika’s assets, has responded to Erika’s gag order request.
Richards slammed Erika’s demand as unconstitutional, calling her gag order request a “thinly-veiled attempt to derail Special Litigation Counsel’s investigation of Ms. Girardi, among other potential targets, in tracing the theft of funds from the debtor’s estate.”
Ronald Richards believes that Erika is trying to have him removed from the case because he is right over the target.
Richards states —“The real motivation behind this motion is Ms. Girardi’s desire to eliminate Mr. Richards as an effective investigator that has aggressively sought to compile the necessary financial information needed by the Trustee. Just as an example, Mr. Richards has already issued Rule 2004 notices to obtain documentary evidence in order to trace the source of funds used by Ms. Girardi to fund her legal expenditures.”
He claims that the “motion’s ulterior motive is to prevent Mr. Richards, who is close to finding out where her $500,000 plus in legal fee payments are coming from, and to track the source of those payments. This is a significant sum of money for someone to have to spend in this context.”
A judge has not yet ruled on Richards’ future on the case or if a gag order will be granted.
Fans know that Erika is facing multiple lawsuits connected to her lavish former life with her soon-to-be ex, Thomas Girardi. Erika filed for divorce from the once famed lawyer, in November.
Richards turned up the heat on Erika last month, when he asked the court to require Erika’s accountant to answer questions about the reality star’s Bravo contract and exactly how much cash she spends monthly on glam.
Court documents revealed that Richards wanted to depose the reality star’s professional associates, after it was alleged that Tom transferred more than $20 million to Erika’s company.
Reuters previously reported that Richards wrote— “Among the possible assets to be recovered are the millions of dollars of settlement proceeds which the debtor may have transferred to Erika.” Richards also noted that he had “already corroborated that settlement funds were diverted to Erika.”
Richards told the court that he wanted to question those surrounding the reality star, including her divorce lawyer, Larry Ginsburg, from the firm Harris Ginsburg LLP. He asked for copies of Erika’s payments to the firm because an examination of the attorney will “also potentially identify any aiders and abettors assisting Erika in hiding the Debtor’s assets.
Payments to an attorney are not privileged nor are Harris Ginsburg’s financial records.” Richards is also looking to question the homeowner who rented his $1.5 million Hollywood property to the Bravo star, to determine exactly how Erika makes her rent payments.
Erika Jayne has accused Richards, who was hired by the trustee overseeing the case, of a having a conflict of interest, because he constantly tweets about the legal drama. She also claimed that Richards is an inappropriate pick because he worked on a previous case against her estranged husband.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm, ET, on Bravo.
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Nancy Zhāng is an Entertainment Blogger for All About The Tea. Nancy covers hot topics, recaps and celeb news. She loves to multi-task as a writer and a private chef. She received a B.S. in Mass Communications from LSU. Nancy’s married and the proud mom of 2 German Shepherds.