In courts docs obtained by ET, Fulton is suing Girardi for missing funds from a settlement she received from Girardi's exes firm.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Erika Girardi, known on the show as Erika Jayne, is facing a lawsuit from Nicolas Cage's former girlfriend, actress Christina Fulton.
In the court docs obtained by ET, Fulton, who is suing for negligence, breach of settlement and fraud, among other things, claims she was represented by Erika's ex-husband, Tom Girardi's law firm, Girardi Keese, after sustaining severe injuries during an automobile accident in 2016. Following the accident, Girardi Keese was able to negotiate Fulton a confidential settlement agreement of $924,300, which was awarded to her on in 2019, but now, Fulton is claiming she did not receive a payout.
In the suit, filed in a Los Angeles-area superior courthouse Tuesday, Fulton claims she did not know where the money from the settlement was until July 14, when she "discovered that all of her remaining Settlement Funds were dissipated, and that her Girardi Keese attorneys had lied to her."
"On March 29, 2019, the Settlement Amount was issued to 'Girardi Keese and Christina Fulton.' On April 8, 2019, the check was deposited into Girardi Keese’s Nano Bank account ending in 0567. The check was '[t]o be deposited in trust for Christina Fulton.' This was a complete outright forgery as Plaintiff never endorsed this check and certainly never agreed to have it deposited," the suit goes on to claim.
Fulton's legal team says that the Girardi Keese firm endorsed the check to be deposited for the actress, calling the negotiated check "a forgery and a lie," claiming that the check not only wasn't held in trust, it was spent, and not by Fulton.
"It is beyond shocking and the pale that the Firm would conceal the arrival of the check and not obtain Ms. Fulton's endorsement as required by law," the docs state.
So, why is Fulton suing Erika and not just her ex-husband and his firm? Per the docs, Fulton claims that she "recently discovered through bank records and other financial documents, that the Settlement Funds were diverted to Erika" through her company EJ Global LLC.
In the suit, Fulton goes on to claim that she believes, that as cases were settled at Girardi Keese, Erika would receive those funds and in turn, use them to pay for her and Tom's lavish lifestyle.
"The funds were treated as community property. Erika used the money to pay off her expenses. For at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid by Girardi Keese as she was generating them. No one withdrew money from the firm other than Erika Girardi," Fulton claims.
As a result of the unpaid settlement, Fulton is asking for the court to award her damages in an amount no less than $744,650 and is demanding a jury trial.
ET has reached out to Erika's lawyer for comment.
In December 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Erika and Tom on behalf of several families who lost loved ones in the Lion Air Flight 610 crash, which occurred in October 2018.
Tom allegedly embezzled settlement money that was supposed to go to the family members of the victims. Tom and Erika are accused of using that money to fund their own lavish lifestyles and allegedly pay off loans to keep Tom's law firm afloat.
One month prior to the charges, Erika filed for divorce from Tom, after 21 years of marriage.
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