Real Housewives of Beverly Hills returns with Tom and Erika Girardi under scrutiny after he allegedly embezzled money from a Boeing airplane crash settlement

Los Angeles Times

The five grief-stricken families who hired Tom Girardi to fight for them following the 2018 crash of Lion Air Flight 610 off the coast of Indonesia will be paying close attention during Wednesday's premiere. He allegedly embezzled millions of dollars in a Boeing settlement that should've gone to the families. “This is rightfully ours, not Girardi’s,” said Septiana Damayanti, whose husband died in the crash, leaving her to raise their two daughters, ages 5 and 3. “I’m exhausted. I thought I could use the settlement money for the children. At least they could’ve gotten a good education, that they’d not need to worry.” As the Los Angeles Times reports, the Girardi's marriage did implode following the allegations, "and Bravo’s gauzy lenses were there to capture much of it. For the network, his stunning downfall, one of the biggest legal scandals in California history, is ratings gold, expected to draw more than a million viewers. For his glamorous and much younger wife, long a supporting character in the venerable series, Girardi’s undoing delivered a coveted central storyline. For some swindled clients and unpaid vendors, however, the series is an offensive exercise in self-absorption and profiteering...In the run-up to the premiere, new evidence has surfaced about Erika Girardi’s role in her husband’s financial affairs, and she is now expected to be a key figure in the sprawling legal battles over what remains of his fortune. Bankruptcy trustees have accused her of concealing assets for him and are in the process of dispatching teams of investigators to comb through her belongings and accounts for money and property that should go to those who can show they were fleeced by her husband." Meanwhile, Tom Girardi has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and is under the legal guardianship of his brother.