Erika Jayne Scandal: Victims’ Attorneys Say They’ve Linked Her to Stolen Money

On The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, viewers heard a lot from Erika Jayne about her scandal and her ex.

Some attorneys who plan to face off against her in court have had a lot to say, too.

Just days ago, the law firm representing the families of the Lion Air crash victims leveled a new accusation against her.

However, it's unclear right now if this claim has any real merit.

Edelson law firm accused Erika Jayne of being on the receiving end of misappropriated funds.

The money was intended for Lion Air crash victims' families -- the "widows and orphans" so frequently brought up amidst this scandal.

Erika's attorney is arguing that, if there's any evidence of this claim, he has yet to lay eyes on it -- and he may be right.

Erika Jayne Argues

This is part of Tom Girardi's Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

Edelson's clients were supposed to receive money from a settlement that Tom won for them against Boeing after the 2018 crash.

Tom is accused of stringing the families along and pocketing the cash himself.

Tom Girardi in 2018 (RHOBH flashback)

Edelson alleges that they have seen financial records, obtianed from teh Girardi bankruptcy trustee.

These alleged documents show that "money that belonged to the surviving widows and orphans of the victims of that plane crash had, in fact, been used to make payments for Erika or her companies."

That is serious and could be, if not a smoking gun, a key piece of evidence in the case against Erika ... maybe.

Tom Girardi Sept 2020 deposition

Obviously, that kind of documentation is not the same thing as evidence that Erika had any idea of what was going on.

If someone buys me dinner and turns out to be a jewel thief who paid for it with ill-gotten gains, that's really on them -- unless I know about it.

But what Erika did or did not know about Tom is actually not the key question about this.

Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi Togetherr

Apparently, the references in the documents have been redacted.

Because of this information blackout, it's not actually possible for anyone to determine if Edelson really has what they say that they have.

Meanwhile, Erika's attorney is stating that there's no known evidence of these payments.

Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi

“I’ve never seen any evidence to support the allegation that Lion Air settlement money received by Girardi Keese was sent by GK to my client," Erika's attorney stated.

Additionally, the statement noted that the bankruptcy trustee “never has alleged that Erika received Lion Air settlement money."

Erika's attorney admits: "I don’t know what Edelson is referring to, and he has conveniently redacted or blacked out his alleged references in his brief to supposed evidence.”

Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi Photo

On the one hand, of course Erika's attorney would say that.

It's his job, and a public statement is very different than speaking before a judge as an officer of the court.

But the trustee's special litigation counsel, Ronald Richards, is no friend of Erika's, and has been thoroughly investigating Erika's finances to determine any role in Tom's alleged wrongdoings.

Erika Jayne with Shades

Richards doesn't think that there's anything to Edelson's claims, either.

“They produced no evidence that showed any direct payments to Erika or her companies,” Richards commented.

The comment continued: “It’s all a big conjecture piled on maybes.”