Former Girardi accountant pleads guilty to stealing money from clients, firm

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Chris Kamon, the longtime head of accounting at disgraced attorney Tom Girardi’s law firm, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on Friday at a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

Kamon, 51, was charged with one count of stealing money from a former Girardi client and one count of stealing money from the firm.

“Defendant Kamon used his position as head of accounting at Girardi & Keese to knowingly and intentionally embezzle funds in the custody and control of Girardi & Keese and divert those misappropriated funds for his own personal enrichment and the enrichment of others,” according to the plea agreement signed by Kamon and filed by the federal government on Tuesday.

Kamon has been in custody since November 2022 when he was arrested at Baltimore’s international airport. He appeared in court on Friday in a white jump suit, legs shackled, and was crying through much of the one-hour hearing.

“He was quite emotional,” said Kamon’s attorney, Michael Severo, of the Law Officer of Michael V. Severo, after the hearing.

When asked why, Severo referred to the sentencing guidelines, which indicate Kamon could be sentenced to as many as 40 years in federal prison.

Severo added that it was in Kamon’s “best interest” to plead guilty, and that they are also working with federal prosecutors in Illinois, where both Kamon and Girardi are charged with wire fraud.

Girardi was once among the most successful and politically connected attorneys in California. He helped to secure a $333 million settlement on behalf of the residents of Hinkley in they class action against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating groundwater, events that were later dramatized in the film “Erin Brockovitch.”

He would go on to achieve still greater fame when his wife, Erika Girardi, was cast on the realityTV show “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

For decades, Girardi was hounded by accusations and lawsuits claiming he withheld money from clients and co-counsel. In 2023, he was indicted in two separate cases, one in LA and one in Chicago, accused of stealing more than $15 million in money owed to his clients from settlements.

At his trial earlier this year, Girardi claimed to be suffering from dementia.

His attorneys also sought to shift the blame onto Kamon, his co-defendant, who was set to be tried separately in January and who they said managed to steal more than $50 million from the firm over roughly 10 years.

Kamon’s ex-fiancee testified that Kamon paid her a $20,000 monthly allowance and had more than 10 side businesses, including one renting out portable stripper poles. She testified that Kamon fled the country to the Bahamas because he thought he would be blamed for the Girardi scandal.

In August, Girardi was found guilty of four counts of federal wire fraud. The jury deliberated for just four hours before reaching a verdict. He will be sentenced in December. Kamon’s sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 31, 2025.

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