Erika Jayne Files Appeal In Legal Battle for $1.4 Million Earrings!
Erika Jayne isn’t giving up the fight to hold onto her $1.4 million earrings. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is appealing a recent ruling that ordered her to turn over the earrings to the trustee presiding over her estranged husband, Tom Girardi, and his former law firm’s bankruptcy case.
Radar Online obtained documents that revealed that the reality star filed the appeal on Monday, in Los Angeles, amid her ongoing effort to maintain possession of the diamonds, which were gifted to her by her estranged ex.
On June 28, a judge ordered that the pricey earrings be auctioned off to the highest bidder, to help pay off Tom’s creditors.
The judge put the trustee in “possession and control” of the earrings, ordering him to hold the property until the jewelry could be appraised, “at which time the Trustee may notice a sale of the diamond earrings.”
The trustee previously sued the Bravo star to turn over the earrings, which were purchased in 2007 by her then-husband for $750k. Tom was accused of using money owed to clients to pay for the lavish gift. Erika previously asked the judge to allow her to keep the jewelry, claiming that she was an “innocent spouse” with no knowledge of her husband’s alleged misdeeds.
The judge noted that Erika’s supposed lack of awareness of Tom’s alleged crimes had no relevance, and ordered that the earrings be turned over as property of the estate.
“This is an unfortunate case,” a lawyer for the trustee said as stated in open court, per Law.com. “The facts as far as I am concerned are pretty straightforward: There was embezzlement fraud from Day 1, not by Erika Girardi but Mr. Girardi. And the facts are laid out in the record. The trustee gets the record the best she can.”
Erika filed for divorce in November 2020, one month before Tom and his law firm, Girardi Keese, were forced into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Tom is embroiled in multiple lawsuits accusing him of embezzling funds owed to clients—including orphans and widows of plane crash victims and a gas explosion burn survivor.
The appeal came after the Bravo personality was served with a $50 million racketeering lawsuit, upon her arrival in Los Angeles Friday night. Erika was leaving the Los Angeles International Airport when she was approached by a woman who handed her two piles of paperwork. The lawsuit accuses Erika of nine charges, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, unlawful business practice, deceit and others in relation to the legal firestorm surrounding her estranged ex.
“I just wanted to give you these documents. This is a summons and complaint to serve you,” the woman said in video footage shared by Page Six.
The Bravo star was returning from a Hawaiian vacation with co-stars, Lisa Rinna and Diana Jenkins, when she was approached by the process server.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8 pm, ET, on Bravo.
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Avigail is an Entertainment blogger at All About The Tea, who specializes in The Real Housewives of Atlanta and The Real Housewives of Potomac. Avigail has a background in marketing. She’s a Brooklynite living in the Bahamas, with a passion for travel, writing, reality TV watching, pop culture and spoken word.