Did Erika Jayne find another elderly attorney to bankroll her “lavish lifestyle” after Tom Girardi got busted? According to a new lawsuit, that might be exactly what happened.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star has been leaning on attorney James “Jim” Wilkes as she navigates the legal fallout of Tom’s crimes. But now, Jim is facing embezzlement accusations that he used COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan money to help keep Erika afloat.
Here’s what a recent report suggested…
RHOBH’s Erika Jayne has more trouble as her attorney James Wilkes is being sued
For context, Erika and James go way back. He’s a former friend of Tom’s, and at one point, RHOBH fans thought the two could be romantically involved. That’s not the case, but Jim has been deeply involved in Erika’s legal battles — including the ongoing lawsuits with Marco Marco designers Christopher Psalia and Marco Morante.
As a reminder, Christopher and Marco head up the design business, Marco Marco. Erika falsely accused them of charging $800,000 to her American Express without her permission. The allegation led to Christopher’s arrest, and it blew a huge hole in their business. Both Marco and Christopher are suing Erika for damages in two different states.
However, according to Radar Online, Christopher has now expanded his lawsuit to include Erika’s attorney, Jim. In the suit, he said that Jim is the “mastermind of a conspiracy” to derail his lawsuit against Erika. He went on to accuse Jim of obtaining PPP loans and funneling them to Erika.
According to the lawsuit, Jim obtained two PPP loans for $2,393,079 and $2,000,000. The United States Small Business Administration forgave both of the loans under the impression that the money went towards the salaries of Jim’s employees.
In Jim’s PPP application, he allegedly overstated the number of employees he had at his law office. The lawsuit claimed he exaggerated the number of full-time employees by 40. Then, that money allegedly went to “pay, invest in, or loan Erika Jayne and her team, and to pay attorneys to defend Erika Jayne and team in other lawsuits.”
Jim hasn’t responded to the lawsuit, but it’s just another winkle in a messy situation. Meanwhile, the Marco Marco designers have maintained that Erika’s actions derailed their business and livelihood, so they’re hopeful the justice system will make it right.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills returns to Bravo on Thursday, December 4 at 8/7c. You can stream it the following day on Peacock. The show streams on Hayu in Canada, the UK and Ireland.
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