On Wednesday (February 1), a former high-profile lawyer who was a significant donor to Democrats and hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden was indicted by federal grand juries in two states for allegedly embezzling $18 million from legal clients.
The revelation Tim Girardi, 83, had been indicted came from the Department of Justice, which announced that in Los Angeles, Girardi had been charged with five counts of wire fraud. The charges — which have a maximum federal prison sentence of 20 years — formed part of an indictment that accused Girardi of embezzling over $15 million from his clients. The indictment specifies that Girardi likely used the funds to cover his law firm’s payroll and pay his personal expenses.
Christopher Kamon, a former Chief Financial Officer for the now-defunct Los Angeles-based law firm Girardi Keese, is also named in the Los Angeles indictment.
Kamon is accused of “devis[ing], participat[ing] in, and execut[ing] a scheme to defraud victim clients” until the firm’s collapse in 2020.
In Chicago, Girardi faced similar charges, this time being charged with eight counts of wire fraud and four of contempt of court. His son-in-law, David Lira, and Kamon face the same charges.
Prosecutors accuse the three men of embezzling $3 million in settlement funds from the families of those killed in a Boeing plane crash off the coast of Indonesia.
The indictments are the latest in a saga that has led to Girardi — once a prominent lawyer in Los Angeles — being disbarred in disgrace in California last year.
While Girardi was still a prominent lawyer, he gave generously to Democrats at all levels of government, donating $7.5 million to political campaigns, most of which went to Democrats.
Biden’s 2020 Presidential campaign also got a boost from Girardi’s generosity after the disgraced lawyer held a lavish fundraiser for the President.
