Girardi claimed poor health, unpaid bills to justify keeping money, witnesses say

There were bills to pay, he was in poor health, and he was awaiting loans, Tom Girardi told clients and joint counsel when they asked for their share of a $17 million settlement of a car crash that severely injured a child, according to testimony Wednesday in the disbarred plaintiff attorney's wire fraud trial.

Hovig John Abassian of First Legal Solution APC testified he referred his client, Erika Saldana, to Girardi after her lawsuit was filed in 2015 over the crash that injured, and eventually killed, her son.

Girardi was "the godfather of our industry" Abassian said, explaining why he referred the case to him, after a mediation that occurred shortly before the 2019 settlement.

Abassian, who was joint counsel on the case, was in the Girardi Keese offices, attempting to recover his owed funds from a $5.5 million settlement check, including referral fees. Girardi "went off on me ... scolded me," Abassian testified.

After the two went to an office, Abassian said, Girardi told him, "'You just don't understand. There's a lot of bills to pay,' and he just took the check from me."

Abassian said he had to "hound" Girardi to eventually get a $500,000 check from the firm and "much smaller checks" soon after. But his referral fee -- along with the complete sum of Saldana's and her husband's settlement -- was never paid.

When he would follow up, Abassian testified Girardi would tell him the money couldn't be paid because he was waiting on loans.

Abassian recalled that weeks after their encounter, Girardi sent him an invitation to an annual party Girardi Keese hosted in Las Vegas during the CAALA convention.

Ryan Roberson, an IRS specialist who investigated financial records at Girardi Keese, testified in the afternoon that some $69 million was paid out of Girardi Keese bank accounts from 2010-2020. This included about $20 million to EJ Global, an entertainment company owned by Girardi's wife, known as Erika Jayne.

Some of the expenses tracked out of the Girardi Keese accounts were traced to diamond jewelry and gems, several golf country clubs, jets and luxury cars, Roberson testified. For example, cars linked to Girardi included a BMW, Aston Martin and Lamborghini, which totaled about $5 million, Roberson said.

The trial, in its sixth day, stems from allegations that Girardi misappropriated more than $15 million in settlement money that belonged to clients between 2010 and 2020. U.S. v. Girardi et al., 2:23-cr-00047 (C.D. Cal., filed Jan. 31, 2023).

At the outset of Wednesday's trial proceeding, Saldana, who was ordered by the judge to leave the court when she said she had tested positive for COVID, then went to the U.S. Attorney's office to continue her testimony remotely.

She tearfully recalled the final months of her attempts to recover the full payment due to her husband and herself as her son fought for his life in the hospital.

Their son - who died years later - was promised some $10 million with an annuity and was pending special needs trust approval. Saldana and her husband were promised $3.5 million. The firm took about a $5 million cut for costs and fees, she said.

By November 2020, Saldana said she and her husband had only received about $1 million of their promised money and were tired of the excuses Girardi gave as to why the other $1.5 million could not be paid.

At one point that month, Girardi told Saldana in an email that he would send her a check that she expected would cover at least half the remaining $1.5 million balance, she said. However, when she went to pick the check up at the Girardi Keese office, she said it was only for $5,000.

"I felt really offended ... like it was a joke," Saldana said. "By that time, we already lost the opportunity to buy a home. ... I didn't even cash it, I just ripped it."

Among the excuses Saldana said Girardi gave her throughout the months following the June 2019 settlement agreement was: the settlement was taxable; their son's trust was not yet established; a judge had to sign checks; and Girardi was suffering hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other health complications.

Saldana recalled a conversation she had with Christopher T. Aumais - a former Girardi Keese attorney who helped handle her case - in June 2020. She said she was shocked to hear "Tom mentioned the IRS was the sole reason" why their settlement payment was on hold.

The firm had explicitly told her at the time of the agreement signing that wrongful death claims were not taxable, Saldana testified.

She also said she was confused that Girardi would imply complications with establishing her son's trust was an issue because the two settlements were independent of each other.

In a Nov. 18, 2020 email, Girardi said he couldn't get the full amount to her and would "set something up later" after he recovered from eye cancer surgery.

At one point, Saldana said Girardi told her she "was not being understanding" of his health problems. She broke down in tears on the stand soon afterward as she explained to jurors that that day was "difficult" for her because it was her son's final birthday before his death.

The remaining balance of her settlement was never paid, she said.

Throughout her time with Girardi, Saldana said she never felt he was cognitively impaired or incapable of handling her case. She said she had never been involved in a lawsuit before, but trusted Girardi because he was "a famous lawyer and knew a lot of people."

"Everything was great until we started getting, like, different excuses," Saldana said.

During cross-examination, Federal Defender J. Alejandro Barrientos suggested Saldana's settlement agreement may have been tampered with without her knowledge and asked her questions about that possibility.

Saldana recalled, "I remember we signed two times because there was an error on one of them, or something."

Barrientos showed the two agreements signed by Saldana in June and July 2019 and emails that were exchanged between the parties in the case, which she was not copied in on or notified about.

At the beginning of the day, Saldana arrived in the courtroom wearing a mask and appeared sick. She later told U.S. Judge Josephine L. Staton that she recently tested positive for COVID-19. Staton dismissed her from the stand, but she then testified in a Zoom conference call.

"She's in a hazmat suit, away from all humanity," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ali Moghaddas told the judge.

After a morning break, Staton told Moghaddas and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Paetty that "it was pretty obvious" Saldana was sick and should have notified the court before showing up.

After the prosecutors apologized, a second issue arose as Federal Defender Charles J. Snyder objected to a last-minute government witness proposal that he said the defense was first notified about at around 10:30 P.M. Tuesday night.

Moghaddas explained to Staton that this witness, who he specified is an attorney, was relevant because a case he had litigated against Girardi Keese between 2013 and 2015 settled and the funds he was paid with belonged to Joseph Ruigomez, a former Girardi client victim who testified last week.

Moghaddas attempted to persuade the judge that the defense "opened the door to other matters" during their cross examinations when they "created false impressions" of cases not named in the indictment to other witnesses.

Staton was not persuaded and said, "It's too late. ... I don't think the defense has opened the door." However, she said she would "maybe" later consider allowing the witness to testify, but not at this time.