Erika Jayne ‘refuses to relinquish earrings after ex was accused of using client money to buy them’

Erika Jayne is allegedly refusing to relinquish a pair of $1.4 million diamond earrings after a bankruptcy trustee accused her estranged husband Tom Girardi of using stolen client money to purchase them.

The trustee in the Girardi & Keese bankruptcy case claims Girardi, 82, used money from a client trust account at his former law firm to purchase a pair of diamond earrings from M&M Jewelers in 2007, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.

The trustee has demanded the earrings, which were purchased for $750K, to be returned but Jayne, 50, has refused to turn them over, RadarOnline reports.

Erika Jayne is allegedly refusing to relinquish a pair of $750K diamond earrings after a bankruptcy trustee accused her estranged husband Tom Girardi of using stolen client money to purchase them; pictured in October 2020

According to court documents, Girardi was able to conceal the transaction in Girardi & Keese’s Trust Account by ‘describing the purpose of the check’ as a ‘cost’ item paid to M&M in connection to one of his lawsuits, according to TMZ and Radar.

‘Erika has no legal or equitable right to the Diamond Earrings and the same are legally and equitably valuable assets of the GK Bankruptcy Estate that the Trustee can and should sell,’ the court documents read, according to Radar. 

The motion requests that the court order Jayne to return the jewelry within five days and forbid her from selling or giving them to someone else until then.

Erika has yet to respond in court and TMZ reports a judge has not made a decision.

Allegations: The trustee in the Girardi & Keese bankruptcy case claims Girardi, 82, used money from a client trust account at his law firm to purchase a pair of diamond earrings from M&M Jewelers in 2007, according to court documents obtained by TMZ

Allegations: The trustee in the Girardi & Keese bankruptcy case claims Girardi, 82, used money from a client trust account at his law firm to purchase a pair of diamond earrings from M&M Jewelers in 2007, according to court documents obtained by TMZ

Girardi has been in a conservatorship since last year and cannot answer for himself. His former law firm, Girardi & Keese, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and he was disbarred last year. 

Her attorney defended her against claims she was aware the diamond earrings given to her by her ex were bought with allegedly stolen funds.   

‘First, Erika is completely innocent,’ Evan Borges said in a court filing obtained by Page Six.

‘Not even the trustee alleges that Erika knew the source of funds that her wealthy husband used to buy her a gift of earrings 15 years ago (which replaced a prior set of earrings bought years prior to that).’

Defense: Her attorney defended her against claims she was aware the diamond earrings given to her by her ex were bought with allegedly stolen funds

Defense: Her attorney defended her against claims she was aware the diamond earrings given to her by her ex were bought with allegedly stolen funds 

However, in a ‘showing of good faith’, Erika has agreed to not sell off or transfer the jewelry pending an investigation, according to court documents.

The earrings will stay with a third-party escrow until a ‘final order is entered.’

Borges said the allegations made by the trustee were ‘inadmissible hearsay based on no statement from anyone with personal knowledge, and which amounts to random Girardi Keese (‘GK’) records that the trustee stated only months ago were in complete disarray and unreliable’, adding the allegations ‘cast doubt’ over claims funds from the law firm were used to pay for the jewelry.

He also accused the trustee of attempting to make the reality star responsible ‘for the conduct of others, including her now-estranged husband who is under a court-ordered conservatorship and allegedly mentally incompetent.’ 

Erika has been embroiled in an embezzlement scandal involving her estranged husband with both named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging they stole funds meant for the families of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash.  

Nope! The trustee has demanded the earrings, which are now valued at around $1.4 million, to be returned but Jayne has refused to turn them over, RadarOnline reports; Jayne pictured in West Hollywood in 2019

Nope! The trustee has demanded the earrings, which are now valued at around $1.4 million, to be returned but Jayne has refused to turn them over, RadarOnline reports; Jayne pictured in West Hollywood in 2019 

Tom had his license to practice law revoked in March 2021 after the Los Angeles Times reported that he had been sued more than 100 times and had been the subject of numerous bar complaints alleging financial malfeasance involving millions of dollars owed to clients, including female cancer victims and a burn victim. 

As the case against the Girardi’s unfolded, Erika revealed during last season’s reunion that her own legal team told her to quit the show and stop filming season 11.

‘I had nothing to hide. And they said, ‘Well, you know, that can get flipped around on you. … Everything can be parsed, twisted, turned, and yes, possibly used against you whether it is true or not. It almost doesn’t even matter at this point,’ she explained.

Andy Cohen probed: ‘Did you ever think of quitting the show?’

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘But I’m not a quitter, and I wanted to honor my commitment, and I wasn’t going to run away from what’s coming at me.’

She also defended herself against any suggestion that she knew about Tom’s alleged dealings and she said if she knew about the allegations against him that she wouldn’t be on a reality show.

She said: ‘Lets be clear here. I wouldn’t (be on the show) because you can’t hide s*** like this. This is not some master plan. This is not Erika being some financial f***ing mastermind. This is a tragic sequence of events that are completely terrible.’

In August last year, DailyMail.com revealed that Girardi is now living in a senior living home in Burbank, California after saying goodbye to living lavishly in his $13 million Pasadena mansion.

Pricing for Belmont Village Senior Living in Burbank is said to be between $4,545 – $4,750 a month for a private suite.

The facility has staff available 24/7, and boasts community chef-prepared dining with 24 daily choices of meals.

Controversy: Erika has been embroiled in an embezzlement scandal involving her estranged husband with both named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging they stole funds meant for the families of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash

Controversy: Erika has been embroiled in an embezzlement scandal involving her estranged husband with both named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging they stole funds meant for the families of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk