Sarah Hagie (0:00)

Hey, Scamflancers listeners, if you're as hooked on these jaw dropping schemes as we are, you'll love Wondry. Think of it as your all access. Past the world of scams, ad free episodes, early access, and exclusive deep dives that uncover even more shocking details. Don't just listen. Immerse yourself in the chaos with Wondry. This is the second episode of a two part series. I don't care how much Real Housewives you've watched, you're gonna be lost if you don't go back and listen to part one. Sachi, if you had any type of political influence, how would you use that to your advantage? I mean, I feel like, you know, I would only use it for evil. Well, I actually don't know how this would work, but I think the only, like, kind of illegal thing I would want would be an unlimited tap card for when I take the bus or subway, just so I never have to think about it. Are you a turnstile jumper? Well, if I could, I would, but we can't jump those in Toronto. It's like those doors. Oh, yeah, they're like bricks. I forgot. I could imagine you suddenly becoming very spry and jumping over a turnstile and surprising me. Well, as we discussed last episode, Tom Girardi started his career off emulating his do gooder hero, Perry Mason. But as he gained success, he also gained a lot of power and political influence. Power and influence that he didn't exactly use for good. It's 2018, and a lawyer named Jay Edelson is at a Morton steakhouse in Los Angeles. He's in his 40s with a bit of a baby face, which he sometimes covers up with trendy glasses and stubble. He's flown here from Chicago for a meeting with one of his heroes, Tom Girardi, a powerhouse in the legal field and an inspiration to Jay. But after Jay gets seated, he starts feeling like something is off, off with Tom. We actually talked to Jay for this episode, and here's how he described this moment. It really felt like out of, like a bad mafia movie where someone just kind of has control of a restaurant and they just do all of their business at the restaurant. So he had multiple tables. We had special Tom Girardi menus. So we weren't allowed to order off the normal menu. The there was so much pomp and circumstance. It was really kind of absurd. Jay's ready to talk business. He and Tom are here to plan a pitch to a potential client. Their firms want to work together on an upcoming opioid case against some major pharmaceutical companies. But very quickly, Jay gets the sense that Tom doesn't know anything about the case. It seems like he has no strategy beyond calling in favors. Jay gets the ick and the pitch meeting with the potential client. It did not go well. It was really one of the most embarrassing meetings I've ever been in. It was all about him again, explaining how much influence he had. I do believe he thought he was charming and nobody else did in the room. Oh, there is something devastating about seeing someone who thinks that they're charming everybody. And actually everyone is seeing them as like the emperor has no clothes. Yeah, it's called getting lost in your own sauce. That's the medical diagnosis for that. The whole experience leaves Jay feeling gutted. But this is just the start of a long, dramatic battle between the two lawyers. And when Jay discovers that Tom is a straight up grifter, he'll do anything in his power to stop him. Why Choose a Sleep Number Smart Bed Can I make my site softer? Can I make my site firmer? Can we sleep cooler? Sleep number does that cools up to eight times faster and lets you choose your ideal comfort on either side. Your Sleep number setting. It's the Sleep number biggest sale of the year. All beds on sale up to 50% off the limited edition smart bed plus free home delivery with the purchase of any smart bed ends Monday. All Sleep number Smart beds offer temperature solutions for your best sleep. Check it out at a sleep number store or sleepnumber.com you know that person in your life who just can't stand mayo? Call them traumatized. Call them close minded. We get it. They're stuck in their ways. But here's the thing. They just haven't tried Hellman's flavored mayo. We're talking bold flavors that will flip even the biggest skeptics. Spicy mayo that adds the perfect kick to your burger. Garlic aioli that transforms ordinary fries into something extraordinary. Chipotle mayo that turns your basic wrap into a smoky sensation. So to all the mayo haters out there, yes, we're looking at you. It's time to eat your words. Because with mayo, this flavorful, any hater is just a mayo lover waiting to be convinced. Hellman's Flavored Mayo. Get ready to eat your words from Wondery. I'm Sarah Hagie. And I'm Sachi Kol. And this is Scamfluencers. Come and give me your attention. I won't ever learn my lesson. Turn my speakers to 11. I feel like a legend in our last episode Tom Girardi built a reputation as a legendary Los Angeles lawyer who fights for the little guy, all while his much younger wife, Erika Girardi appears on reality TV and performs as Erika Jane, her pop star alter ego. But behind the scenes, Tom has been accused of stealing his client's settlement money. He's been running this con for decades, totally unchecked. But when another lawyer dares to take him on, Tom will finally face his own day in court. This is the power broker and the pop star part two legend. It's January 2019, about a year after Jay and Tom's meeting. Andy Cohen is throwing a baby shower at the Palm, a swanky steakhouse in Beverly Hills. Andy is the executive producer of Bravo's Real Housewives franchise, and the theme of the shower is a star is born. The guests at his shower include basically every housewife who's ever been on the show. Nene Leakes of Atlanta, Vicki Gunvalson of the Real Housewives of Orange County, Karen Huger, the grand dam of Patrick Potomac, and John Mayer. Things get wild with women dancing on tables and posing with a giant baby bottle in the photo booth. Sachi, I know you remember seeing this on social media, too. Oh, I ate these photos up. They were so weird. They went viral because it was like, they shouldn't all be there together. It felt like a full glitch in a matrix where every timeline somehow is happening at the same time and your future self is meeting your past self. I was like, oh, I guess this is how nerds feel when they see, like, all the Avengers hanging out or something. Yeah, it was my end game. Well, Erica Girardi is there, too, and her gift for andy's baby is 1,000 shares of Disney stock. But unfortunately for Andy and his family, he never actually receives these shares because later that month, Erica's husband Tom is sued by one of his firm's creditors. You might be wondering why Tom's firm has to borrow money. Taking out loans isn't an uncommon practice for law firms. Plaintiffs lawyers like Tom often work on contingency, which means they don't take any money from clients unless they win their case. Often, they turn to lenders to help keep them afloat. Creditors expect that once a firm settles their cases, they'll get their money back with interest. It's risky, but there's a whole cottage industry that does this kind of work. One of those lenders is a company called Law Finance Group, or lfg. They've given money to Tom's firm many times, but at this point, Tom's firm hasn't paid its debts for years, so LFG decides to sue Gerardi Keese. In the suit, LFG alleges they're owed $15 million. It also claims that when they examine Gerarde Keys records, they saw huge amounts of money labeled as loans going from the firm's accounts to a company called EJ Global. As in Erika Jane Global. It was set up in 2008 to fund Erika's music career. And in the decade or so since then, Tom's firm has wired the company more than $20 million. On top of that, LFG alleges in the lawsuit that Tom used money they lent Gerarde Keese to prop up his and Erica's bougie lifestyle. These allegations are pretty damning, and Tom is pissed. Especially since LFG filed the suit in the Superior Court for Los Angeles county rather than through private arbitration, where it would have been kept confidential. Sachi, can you read a bit from the actual mailed letter Tom wrote to LFG's lawyer? It says, your claim that I used one penny of the funds for my lifestyle is total fraud. I, however, have been massively damaged, frankly. Four judges called me after they saw the lying materials. I told the judges the truth and that we would be filing a claim at the end of the trial. We will find if I'm a better lawyer or if you're a better liar. It's kind of iconic. I love it. Well, Tom ultimately settles with lfg, but the lawsuit has tipped off the firm's other creditors, and many of them start coming to collect. But Tom's hoping he can avoid further scrutiny by ramping up on gifts and to some powerful public figures. In May 2019, the same week that Tom settles the lawsuit with LFG, he takes the stage at a private club in LA. He's hosting a fundraiser for Joe Biden, who's in town to raise money for his US Presidential campaign. On stage, Tom praises the former vice president president, while Erica watches from the crowd wearing a fashionable blue dress. Ever since Tom became friendly with California Governor Jerry Brown way back in the 70s, he's fostered powerful political relationships, like this one with Biden. Just a month after the fundraiser, California Governor Gavin Newsom names Tom to an advisory committee to vet state judicial candidates. Tom and Gavin have had a friendly and transactional relationship for about three years. Earlier, in 2016, when Gavin was lieutenant governor of California, he appeared on Bravo's late night talk show. Watch what happens live. Andy Cohen tells him, I was surprised to Know that you have some ties to Erika Jayne. Cause her husband's one of the major donors in California politics. Wow. And does he give to you? He has been extraordinarily generous. Nice. So she is my favorite real husband. I mean, I guess I'm glad he's at least honest about it. At least he wasn't like, I love Expensive. It's my favorite song. Yeah. Also, it is insane that he's on watch what happens live. Being like, Erica's my favorite housewife. It's like, have some self respect, man. No one was ever saying that. No. Tom's contributed millions of dollars to political candidates over the years, from Joe Biden and Barack Obama to Gavin Newsom and Dianne Feinste. His Rolodex is filled with the biggest names in Washington, and he isn't afraid to call in favors. But the clients Tom has been ripping off aren't impressed. One of these clients has finally had enough. And this average Joe isn't intimidated by Tom's political connections. He wants his money. It's June 2019, about a month after the Biden fundraiser. Joseph Rugomez is at his wit's end. Remember, Joseph is a man who survived a horrific fire caused by a gas line rupture. Tom represented Joseph and settled his case with PGE about six years earlier. Joseph needed the settlement money to cover the medical treatments he'll need for the rest of his life. But Joseph still hasn't received most of the money, and now he's in danger of losing his house. But Tom's such a powerful figure that Joseph and his family feel like they have nowhere to turn. Here's a family friend of Joseph's talking about it on ABC News's the Housewife and the Hustler. We can't go to the chief of police. That's Tom's friend. You can't go to the California Attorney General. That's Tom's friend. You can't go to the California bar. That's Tom's friends. Like, who are we going to call? Like Ghostbusters. Ultimately, Joseph and his family decide to file a lawsuit against Girardi Keyes for the remaining settlement money. Tom agrees to pay them twice. $12 million. He says $1 million will be sent right away and then another two and a half million in a couple months and so on. But that second payment never comes. So the Rugomez family takes Tom back to court. And as part of that process, Tom sits for a video deposition. And in it, Tom seems different. His normally confident and charming Persona is gone. He seems meek and confused. And then he admits something shocking, that he is completely broke. Sachi, can you read this quote from his deposition? It says, at one point I had about 80 million or 50 million in cash. That's all gone. I also had a stock portfolio of about 50 million, and that's all gone. That is so much money to just not have. What did you buy? What could you have bought? That's an amount of money that, like, could change generations of a family. And it's like, well, that's all gone. And the deposition is not public, but the people who hear it, the Rugomez family, and the lawyers involved in the case are stunned. After four decades of towering influence, Tom now appears all too human. Joseph and his family have managed to hold Tom accountable for stealing from them. But it's not clear if Tom will ever be able to make them or any of his other victims whole. It's November 2020, about six weeks since Tom sat for that shocking deposition. Kyle Richards, one of Erica's castmates on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is setting up for an election night party. Just a few days earlier, Kyle, Erica, and the other housewives were on a trip to Lake Tahoe. Erica told the ladies about how great things had been going in her marriage and in Tom's business. Now Kyle's party planning is totally thrown off by a text she just received from Erica. It says that after 21 years of marriage, she's filing for divorce from Tom. Kyle immediately jumps on a FaceTime with fellow Housewives Dorit Kemsley and Lisa Rinna to break it down. And obviously Bravo's cameras are rolling. What is going on? Did you have any idea? No idea. And we were just in Tahoe and not one zero people. Zero, zip, zilch, nothing. Oh, Sachi, I know you again. Another classic moment for us in our brains that we remember like it was yesterday. I remember it so well. I will say one thing that always makes me laugh about the housewives is they believe they have an ownership over other people's bad news. Like, they believe they should be told the second something bad happens to you. And then they're, like, really offended that you don't tell them. Like, I just saw you for lunch and you didn't tell me that your entire life was falling apart. And I just think that that's really rude. I mean, it is so funny that these women are all friends and they're all willing to talk as much shit as possible about the other behind closed doors in a way that I'm like, you know that's not normal, right? That's not like what actual people do with their friends. Is that not what people do with their friends? It's not what I do with you, baby. And two episodes later, Erica meets up with her castmates. She says that she and Tom had basically stopped communicating, that Tom would always shut down discussions about her feelings. She tells them that she left everything behind without even leaving a note. I let go of my Lamborghini. I let go of my 16,000 square foot home. I let go of my marriage. I let go of everything. She's such a crazy voice. I was just gonna say this is Erica's sad voice. It's crazy. It sounds like a zipper, an old zipper slowly being pulled. This is not the tone of voice of anybody found in nature. It's wild. Well, later, Erica claims on the show that she left because Tom cheated on Instagram. She posts screenshots of what she says are text messages between Tom and a California appeals court justice. He was having an affair with Sachi. This post has since been deleted, but here's an archived version of it. And it's so good because it's photographs of texts from a flip phone because Tom is 400 years old. Also, some of the screenshots you're like, is this sexting? Because it goes, I can't believe it. Dr. Matlock is already calling and asking for the check. You see Dr. Matlock being invoked a few times here. I'm like, what is that code for? I don't know what that's about. But the sexier ones are miss you, babe. Makeup sex. Question mark Tonight was fantastic. Really. I mean, you have to keep it relative to the person. He's old. This is very sensual for him. Yeah. The thing that I remember the most from these screenshots when they went public is that all of the, like, sexy photos from this woman are her wearing jeans, skinny jeans, and a T shirt. Yeah, that's. That's X rated. And according to a later court filing, Tom showered the justice with gifts during the course of their four year long affair. Among those gifts, $300,000 to help buy her a beachfront vacation property in Santa Monic. The money wasn't wired from Tom's personal bank account, though. It was wired from a separate account containing settlement money owed to Tom's clients. Victims like Joseph who had suffered horrible tragedies and looked to Tom to make things right. The woman Tom had an affair with says she didn't know that the money she received from him actually belonged to his clients. She has since returned the gifts. Erica also denies having any knowledge of Tom's financial fraud, but it's clear the dynamics in her and Tom's relationship has shifted. When they first met, Tom was the hotshot lawyer and Erica was the waitress turned housewife. Now, more than two decades later, Tom's reputation is on the rocks and his bank accounts are empty. Erica's the one with earning power. She's a bonafide pop star and a reality TV sensation. But now that Erica and Tom are tabloid muse, one of Tom's former associates knows it's time to strike. He's ready to get payback for himself and his clients. Ever notice how fees are just everywhere these days? From those sneaky convenience charges on concert tickets to those surprise cleaning fees on vacation rentals, it seems like everyone's got their hand out for a little. And when it comes to banking, those fees can really kick you when you're down that monthly maintenance fee when your balance dips too low, or that overdraft charge that turns a $4 coffee into a $39 headache. But that's why people are switching to Chime. They believe banking shouldn't cost you money, it should help you keep more of it. 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For free Premium Meals for Life. That's free Premium Meals for Life by using code Scamfluencers or going to cookunity.com scamfluencers terms and conditions apply. Go to cookunity.com for details. I feel like a legend When Jay Edelson hears the news about Erica filing for divorce, his stomach drops. Jay's a Chicago lawyer who met with Tom at morton's steakhouse about 10 months earlier. Jay's firm and Tom's firm reached a series of huge settlements on behalf of their clients. They'd partnered to represent some of the families of victims of a horrific plane crash, a Lion Air flight that killed 189 people. The plane was manufactured by Boeing, and it turns out it had a malfunctioning control system. Lawyers clamored to represent the victims, but one lawyer stood out among the rest, Tom. He promised the families he'd get them the biggest possible payout. And with his reputation, why wouldn't they believe him? After the settlements to the victims were finalized, Boeing transferred millions of dollars into a jurisdiction Girardi Keese trust account. Gerardi Kees was responsible for distributing the funds to the families of the victims and to Jay's firm. But Jay hasn't been able to get a clear answer from anyone at Girardi Keith about whether the clients have actually gotten their money. Jay's also been hounding Gerardi Keith about the $2.5 million that's owed to his firm. When he hears about Erica filing for divorce, he's suspicious. Here's what Jay said in our interview. So at that point, my take, being the cynical person I am, was that the money was gone and that's why she was filing for divorce. Jay files a motion in the Lion Air case, asking the judge to look into the $2 million of missing settlement money. The judge takes this accusation really seriously. It helps that the lawsuit was Filed in Illinois, far away from Tom's influence in California. The judge orders both Jay and Tom to appear in court. Jay alleges that Tom has been taking settlement money from new Girardi Keese clients to pay off old ones who are owed money. A classic Ponzi scheme. Jay also alleges that Girardi Kees had been using client settlement money to pay its bills, with Tom taking millions for himself. Jay's accusing Tom of embezzlement, which is a disbarable offense. And when it's Tom's turn to defend himself, there's crickets. According to his lawyers, Tom, who is now in his early 80s, has issues of mental competence and has been unable to help them understand where the money went. The judge is furious. He immediately freezes Tom's assets. Then the judge refers the case to the U.S. attorney's office for criminal investigation. So now the DOJ is sniffing around Tom's mess, too. And it turns out Jay isn't the only one suspicious about Erica's sudden divorce announcement. Three days after the judge freezes Tom's assets, the LA Times releases a 4,000 word expose that outlines bombshell allegations against Tom over the course of decade. The day after the story is published, Tom's longtime partner, Robert Keese files a petition forcing their firm into bankruptcy. The firm is officially shut down. We reached out to Robert for comment, and he declined to talk to us. After decades of spearheading big cases, swaying top politicians, and even getting the Hollywood treatment, it looks like Tom's winning streak is finally over. And soon, the State Bar of California, the very group he worked so hard to keep under his thumb, will turn on him, too. In February 2021, about two months after his firm files for bankruptcy, Tom is placed under the temporary conservatorship of his younger brother, Robert. Robert had told a judge that Tom wasn't capable of making rational decisions about his finances. And his lawyers claim that when Tom was asked about his money, his responses were factually impossible. About a week after the judge grants a temporary conservatorship, Tom's Pasadena mansion is robbed while he's at home. When Erica recounts the robbery to Kyle on the Real Housewives, the story is convoluted and to some people, unbelievable. Here's what she said. Tom's house was broken into and he confronted the burglar and then had to go have eye surgery. And then my son had to go for help. And then my son, he rolled his car five times on the way home. Yeah, I'm under a lot of Stress. Wait, what? She continues and goes, I got a call at 3 in the morning, but didn't get it until 6 from the Pasadena Police Department that Tom's home had been broken into. He confronted the burglar and then he had to go to the hospital and have some sort of surgery. I don't even really know Sashi. This is such an iconic moment in Housewives history. I have this on a pillow that my former coworkers got for me as a housewarming gift. And people are like, why does that. Who's Tom and why was this house broken into? And I'm like, tom's house is broken into. And he confronted the burglar and then he had to go have eye surgery and my son had to go over and help him. And my son had rolled his car over five times on the way home. Yeah, I am under a little stress. I fucking cannot. I think people have actually under indexed how elemental this quote is to the Housewives universe. It changed everything. There is a before, her son rolled over his car five times on the way home because she's under a lot of stress. And then after that, there's only two timelines. Also, as the story continues and it's mentioned throughout the season, someone's like, yeah, she said it was like snowing, snowing in Pasadena and so the car flipped over or something. And no one can quite grasp the story. But also, it's just like her delivery, how she says it without pausing for a breath, as you called it, her zipper voice. Yeah, she's using full zipper voice. Rehearsed zipper voice. Well, shortly after the robbery, Tom moves into a care facility. A forensic psychiatrist examines Tom and diagnoses him with Alzheimer's. He says that Tom experiences delusions and disorganized thinking. But there's suspicions around Tom's diagnosis, including from one of the organizations he used to be the most chummy with, the California State Bar. They allege that Tom's dementia diagnosis is an attempt to avoid accountability, and they file a complaint against him in March 2021. To make their case, they point to the public appearances that Tom made just two months before he was placed under conservatorship. One of the appearances was a 90 minute long panel where he delivered advice on how to conduct a jury trial. About nine months later, in December 2021, the Chicago Judge overseeing the plane crash case holds a hearing. He calls Tom's behavior unconscionable. Sachi, can you read some more of what the judge said at the hearing? Yes, the judge said, quote, it's an embarrassment to the whole legal community that people in Indonesia are being ripped off by someone who is acting like a two bit crook. I'm not going to restrain myself on this. This is an embarrassment. Oh, judges don't like it when judges look bad in public. No, they don't. And also, it's like these are people seeking justice for something that is such a clear cut case of negligence and they can't even get their money. Yeah. So safe to say that Tom's legacy is now in ruins. The fallout has taken out his firm and thrown former associates into question. That includes his wife, Erica, especially when she doubles down on her extravagant public image. The next month, Erica is with some of her Real Housewives castmates in Aspen for a glamorous ski getaway. It's January 2022, and she's filming for season 12 of the show. She pops into Ogier, a ski shop where a snowsuit with Swarovski crystals goes for an easy, breezy 8K. Erica's wearing sporty reflective sunglasses, a giant fluffy fur coat and matching boots. And she's accessorizing with some huge diamond stud earrings that Tom bought her in 2007. At that time, they had a retail value of $750,000, but Erica now says they're worth more than a million dollars. These earrings become a flashpoint both on the show and off. Some see them as a symbol of Erica's ambivalence towards the clients Tom stole money from in bankruptcy filings. Erica says they were a gift, and she didn't know that Tom potentially paid for them with stolen money. Many of her fellow housewives feel like she should turn them over to Tom's bankruptcy trustee, not as an admission of guilt, but as an act of compassion. But one night on the Aspen trip, during a drunken fight, Erica says that she doubts the victim's stories. Her castmates look on in horror. Keep in mind, half of them have also just taken edibles. This was, thank God, captured for the show. Just because someone alleges that you did, you're gonna throw your hands up and say, I did. Oh, my God, I feel so bad. People are thinking I'm terrible. Hold on a minute. That's one out. That's one side of the story. Let's tell the other side. I don't give a about anybody else but me. And you know what? This wasn't the first time Erica showed questionable judgment. In May of 2021, she posted a caricature of herself burning at the stake on Instag. She captioned it. Scapegoat. Her earrings spell out the words widows and orphans. It's a reference to the accusations that she and Tom have stolen from widows and orphans in the plane crash. This is so embarrassing. If I ever post anything that's even remotely close to this, are you going to stop me from being myself? That's what I need to know. If you posted something even close to this, you'd be too far gone. I would give up on you. Oh, okay. Promising. And about three months later, Erica is sued by a bankruptcy trustee. They're seeking to recoup some of the money they loaned to Gerard Yiquis, which then ended up in their account for EJ Global, the company funding Erika Jayne's pop star career. The complaint alleges that erika's allowance of $175,000 per month was paid by the law firm and that Erica had her own Gerard Keys credit card. Sachi, can you read this excerpt from the complaint? Yeah. It says Erica directed all of her personal vendors to be paid by the law firm. Only Erica knew that her entire singing, acting, bling brand, glam squad, and other Erica only expenses were completely funded by Gerardi Keith. Damn. Erica's refusal to back away from her fabulous public image has put a target on her back. The court of law and public opinion are about to come for her with full force. In July 2022, about a year after Erica posted that caricature of herself on Instagram, she steps off a plane at Los Angeles International Airport. She's returning from a camera free vacation in Hawaii with two of her Real Housewives castmates. And after everything that's been going on, she probably needed that vacation. A month earlier, a court demanded that she turn over the diamond earring she'd been hanging onto. Now she's dressed down in a white sweatsuit and sneakers. As she walks through baggage claim, she's approached by an unassuming woman carrying a stack of papers. The woman tells Erica that she needs to give her these documents. Erica is being served. And this is all captured by paparazzi Erica, EJ Global, and two former Girardi Keith attorneys are named in the new complaint filed by Jay's firm. It accuses Girardi of embezzling money that should have gone to his clients. And it alleges that Girardi Kees was, quote, the largest criminal racketeering enterprise in the history of plaintiff's law. The suit alleges that Erica knowingly used settlement money to prop up a lifestyle made for reality tv. It also claims that EJ Global was set up to funnel money from Gerarde Keys directly to Erika and that Erika's public image was a front helping sell the idea that Girardi Kees was successful when it was struggling all along. Things only get worse for Erica from there. About two months later, in September 2022, lots of her and Tom's stuff is auctioned off to raise money for Girardi Keyes victim. The items for sale include a Chagall painting, a bronze bust of Tom himself, and an Erin Brockovich poster signed by Julia Roberts. One of the strangest items is a rare holographic Charizard Pokemon card that was found in a storage room in the mansion's basement. One of the auctions brings in $232,000, and the earrings are sold to the wife of the bankruptcy trustee for $250,000, which really pisses Erica off. Lawsuits are coming for Erica from all angles. Tom has wronged so many people and they're looking for answers. And for Jay Edelson, suing Erica is just one part of a grand plan to set things right in the wake the of of Tom's massive alleged fraud. You know what I love about transitioning into fall? It's the perfect excuse to refresh my wardrobe with some new staples. But finding quality pieces that don't break the bank can be such a challenge. And that's why I've been loving Quint lately. They have these amazing cashmere and cotton sweaters starting at just 40 bucks, plus gorgeous washable silk tops and classic denim pieces you'll wear again and again. And they work directly with top artisans and cut out all the middlemen. So you're getting the same premium quality as luxury brands, but at literally half the cost. And I love that they're committed to ethical manufacturing. All their factories use safe, responsible practices and premium materials. You know that a bunch of my wardrobe is comprised of Quinn stuff, but it's actually all stuff that I bought a couple of years ago and it still really holds up. I still look very cute, which, as you know, is top priority. Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with quince. Go to quince.comscampod for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.comscampod to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comscampod the town of Agda in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex. But lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting. I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into chaos as the mayor is unable to carry out his duties. I would like to address you. All legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson and journalist Leo Chic for the mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption and magic. Binge all episodes of the mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery. Start your free trial in Apple podcasts, Spotify or the Wondery app. Sachi, I want to show you something. It is a music video for a song called the Rebellion. This video is eight minutes long and it's released in February 2023, about five months after Erica and Tom's belongings are auctioned off. The video features lookalike actors playing Tom and some Gerard Yu Keith attorneys and one who supposedly looks like Erica. That guy rapping is Ari Sharg, a lawyer at Jay Edelson's firm. He's a person who wrote and performed the song. Let's hear one specific clip to really get a sense of the lyrics. They don't want us airing all the secrets they've been guarding, like how they begged us not to sue that piece of shit. You're already said it's metaphor. And other lyrics include and I'm not gonna wrap this. Despicably, the victims were defrauded by a decorated leader. So horrifically, EPC built differently. Not a single legal MC can spit half as real as me. Epc, by the way, are the initials of Jay's firm. Don't you think this sounds like a Lin Manuel Miranda rap song? Sounds like Hamilton. That is actually 100% true. And this guy's only problem is that he can't rap like Hamilton. That is actually the only problem. The video was produced with the help of an LA production company that has worked on music videos for Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar and Dababy. Jay told us that he considers the music video, which was put together and paid for by his law firm, to be a form legal advocacy. So this was a way where we felt we could speak directly to the public. Anytime you're dealing with legal issues, you can lose people in the weeds of it. The music video is a chance for Jay to gloat. And honestly, he has a reason to. Roughly a week earlier, Tom was federally indicted in California. He was charged with wire fraud and accused of embezzling more than $15 million from his client. And in Illinois, he was hit with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of contempt of court. Jay is probably taking a victory lap right about now. And thanks to his firm, some of Tom's victims have reason to celebrate, too. About a year earlier, Jay got sick of waiting for Tom to pay out the victims in the case against Boeing. So he decided to pay some of them the millions they were owed using money from his own. Jay's firm hasn't been paid by Tom's firm yet either, but the arrangement allowed Jay to sue Tom on the victim's behalf without dragging them along. The victims of the plane crash can finally move on. But the fight over Tom's legal accountability and Erica's is just gearing up. In March 2023, Tom Girardi appears on a video screen wearing a light gray sport jacket. He's checking in remotely to a court hearing. He's here to plead not guilty against the charges that he defrauded victims in the Boeing case. The firm's head of accounting is indicted, too, as is Tom's son in law. He also worked on the case and was named on the bank account containing settlement money. Tom doesn't speak other than to agree to hold the hearing over video. And for someone who spent decades at the top of the legal profession, Tom's now represented by a court appointed attorney. His lawyer claims that Tom suffers from health issues that prevent him from understanding the court proceeding. Tom's brother Robert says Tom receives $3,000 per month in Social Security and has no other income. Tom is released into Robert's custody on a $250,000 bond. But after years of back and forth, first with Tom, then with bankruptcy court, in April, a judge finally approved an 11 point million payment to Joseph and his family. Two months later, in June 2023, there's a huge update. A government appointed expert says Tom is competent enough to stand trial in the federal case in Illinois. Around the same time, the California State bar, inspired by Tom's case, passes a rule requiring attorneys to report misconduct by their peers. I can't believe they didn't have a rule for that until now. Yeah, and they also created new rules mandating that attorneys register and report their clients trust accounts to the state bar. Since it went into effect about a year ago, more than 1,600 attorneys have been suspended for violating the rules. How depressing. Meanwhile, Erica is thriving. She's still a real housewife of Beverly Hills and has been spotted filming for the next season. In July 2023, she won an appeal over the decision to auction off her diamond earrings. The court sided with her, saying the earrings never should have been given to the bankruptcy trustee in the first place. Also, it seems like Erica is trying to make amends with Tom's victims. About a week before she won the appeal, she was spotted paying a visit to an LA restaurant co owned by Joseph Rugomez's mother, Kathy. She reportedly held a meeting with Kathy and some of Tom's other alleged victims. And even without Tom's financial support, she hasn't given up on her pop star dreams. She's currently preparing for her Las Vegas residency, Bet it all on Blonde, which starts in late August 2023. Sachi, we know a lot about the Real Housewives, especially Beverly Hills, but I do feel like you learned a lot more with these Tom Girardi episodes. Yeah, I mean, I thought I knew the depth of it, but I don't think I really understood it. I think having it laid out like this has really changed my understanding. Yes. And I think it's also changed my understanding of like, what Erica knew and when she knew it. I can see how she just sort of said to herself over and over again, he's gonna take care of me. But that's not a justifiable excuse. Yes, indefinitely. And you know, widows and orphans are kind of where you don't have empathy for that argument anymore. And she has acted so poorly in public that like her, her ex husband is the real scammer. Of course Tom Dirardi is the problem, but she has behaved so poorly in the public discourse that people are associating her even more with what he did. Yeah, I do believe she was a victim to Tom's behavior in some ways, but it's not on par with people who put their trust in this person. Waiting for millions of dollars and then seeing information that your money was being funneled into his wife's vanity pop star career. Yeah, I mean, I would be embarrassed. I hope she's embarrassed. She must be. That must be why she old zipper voice is acting a fool. That's why her voice went down so many octaves. Yeah, yeah. It's because she's. It's a shame based response. Nobody, nobody believes somebody feels bad when their voice is up here. You only believe it when it's down here. And this is how they're talking. So do you think Tom would have faced any real consequences if it wasn't for Erica being on the show? I don't think so. Really? I don't think so. I think it needed to be expedited in this way. Maybe it would have come up. But he's an old man. How long would that have taken? Right? I don't. I think, like the show is partly why I think there was increased investigation into her and then also her husband. If she had not been on that show, I don't think there would have been as much attention paid to how much money he had and the fact that this money wasn't actually appearing in anybody else's bank accounts. It is also shit like this that gives conspiracy theorists a huge leg up. Being like, nothing matters. Everything is being controlled by money. And these Blizzard people. And you know what? Tom was able to do whatever he wanted with his influence over all these people, and we had no say in that. This is a really sad story about how long money can talk. Oh yeah. Everything is just a game of the Sims or Civilization to these people. So are you still listening to Erika James albums on repeat as you were before all of this happened? Mm, I don't know, man. I can't really separate the art from the artists with this one. It's really hard for me now to listen to expensive and feel empowered by it. Yeah, it's tough. Context changes art, and that's really what we're here to talk about. Loving Scamflancers get exclusive episodes and early access to new ones. All ad free on Wondry Plus. Join now in the Wondry app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Before you go, help us out by taking a quick survey@wondry.com survey this is the Power Broker and the Pop Star Part two. I'm Sarah Hagie. And I'm Sachi Cole. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were ABC News originals, Housewife and the hustler. MSNBC's American Greed Cham Dirardi sued by Indonesia's Lion Air crash families over claims US Lawyer embezzled Master millions of their settlement funds In ABC News Australia, written by Ann Barker and Archicio Giuliano. Brandon Lowry's reporting for Law 360 and the investigative work of the Los Angeles Times reporters Harriet Ryan and Matt Hamilton. Jessica Ford wrote this episode. Additional writing by us Sachi Cole and Sarah Hagie. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi Piri. Our story editor and producer is Sarah Enny. Eric Thurm is our story editor. Sound design is by Sam Ada. Fact checking by Will Taplin. Additional audio assistance provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For freesound Sync. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock, our managing producer is Matt Gant and our senior management. Our managing producer is Ryan Lohr. Kate Young and Olivia Richard are our series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Blume. Our executive producers are Jeanine Cornello, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louie. For Wondery before the Internet ruled our lives, AOL brought America Online with email and Instant messenger. By 2000, AOL was so powerful it bought media giant Time Warner. This was a deal that was supposed to bring us into the future, revolutionize media, but instead it became one of the messiest corporate disasters in history. So what went wrong? The dot com crash? Culture clashes? Or something deeper? Business wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business and how they shape our world. Because when your flight perks disappear, your favorite restaurant chain goes bankrupt, or new tech threatens to reshape everything overnight, you can bet there's a deeper story behind the headlines. Make sure to follow Business wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast. And you can binge all episodes of Business the AOL Time Warner Disaster early and ad free right now on Wondery Plus.