Former CFO of Tom Girardi’s law firm pleads guilty in fraud case, faces up to 40 years in prison – Orange County Register

The former chief financial officer of the law firm of convicted ex-lawyer Tom Girardi pleaded guilty on Friday to helping the once-powerful lawyer embezzle millions of dollars in funds from clients.

Christopher Kamon, 51, entered his plea to two counts of wire fraud in federal court in Los Angeles.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 31, when Kamon faces up to 40 years in prison.

Kamon, a former chief accounting officer at the now-defunct Girardi Keese, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and admitted embezzling millions of dollars from the company’s accounts for his own use. As part of the deal, he agreed to forfeit $3.1 million.

The defendant was expected to appear in court in January. The former Encino and Palos Verdes resident, who was living in the Bahamas at the time of his arrest two years ago, was indicted on several criminal charges for aiding Girardi’s scheme to defraud customers and, in a separate case, for extorting money from the company.

He has been in federal custody since his arrest in December 2022.

Kamon admitted that he used the funds stolen from the company to finance construction projects for his houses.

In August, Girardi was found guilty of running a massive 10-year Ponzi scheme in which he stole at least $15 million in settlement funds from customers.

Judges convicted Girardi, 85, of four counts of wire fraud for stealing from injured customers and spending the money on private jets, golf club memberships, jewelry and the career of his now estranged wife, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” star Erika Jayne.

Girardi’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 6. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each charge.

The two defendants were originally scheduled to go on trial together this summer, but the judge decided to separate their cases after defense lawyers argued that each intended to blame the other. During Girardi’s trial, his lawyers tried to blame Kamon, suggesting that the accountant had orchestrated the fraud.

Girardi’s attorney told jurors that Kamon operated as a fraud “virtuoso” at the company. Girardi himself testified that Kamon “was quite clever at stealing millions of dollars.”

Girardi, of Seal Beach, suffers from dementia but has been deemed able to fend for himself.

The defendants also face federal fraud charges in Chicago in a separate case involving the misappropriation of $3 million in settlements intended for widows and orphans of victims of the Boeing 737-Max crash in Indonesia.