Credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / MEGA
Erika Jayne has won her appeal in a case involving a pair of $750,000 earrings given to her by estranged husband Thomas Girardi years ago.
After the earrings were auctioned off as part of the bankruptcy case against Thomas, who is accused of stealing millions in settlement funds from former clients, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, who initially appealed the ruling last July after the jewelry was sold for $250,000, has convinced a judge that the items were taken from her unlawfully.
“Erika Girardi wins appeal over auctioned earrings,” Emily Baker, a legal analyst and former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney, announced on Twitter on July 19.
“The Court agreed with Erika that the earrings were not the bankruptcy estate’s property and, therefore, shouldn’t have been turned over to the bankruptcy trustee,” she added, noting that when it comes to the future of the earrings, the matter will be left up to the bankruptcy court “to sort out.”
Erika Girardi Wins Appeal over auctioned earrings.
The Court agreed with Erika that the earrings were not the bankruptcy estate’s property and, therefore, shouldn’t have been turned over to the bankruptcy trustee. The matter is remanded to the BK court to sort out. pic.twitter.com/E5YpDuHTUp— Emily D. Baker ⚖️ ? (@TheEmilyDBaker) July 19, 2023
As RHOBH fans may recall, attorney Ronald Richards, who briefly worked on the bankruptcy case against Thomas, said that after Erika was forced to turn over the earrings last July, she would be fighting to “defend herself and all the money, benefits, and gifts she received from Tom.”
Then, months later, in an odd turn of events, it was alleged that the earrings Erika turned over were not the pair worth $750,000, but rather another pair of similar diamond earrings.
“The earrings Erika ultimately turned over the trustee are NOT the same earrings on the invoice … The GIA certificates that were ordered in 2022 show they are not the same diamonds,” Ronald confirmed in a tweet in November 2022.
Then, weeks later, after Ronald’s wife, Lauren Boyette Richards, was seen wearing the earrings, Erika failed to acknowledge the mixup as she attempted to reclaim the bling.
She then accused the court of a “legal error” that resulted in her earrings being auctioned off and signaled to a statute of limitations in her appeal.
“Ms. Girardi has elected and is entitled to money damages based on the proceeds of the sale of a marital gift received by her in 2007 that was taken from her and sold by the Trustee based on the legally erroneous Turnover Order,” her attorney wrote in court documents. “The Bankruptcy Court erred as a matter of law when it determined that the Trustee’s claims based on an alleged fraudulent transfer of property over 15 years ago were not barred by the applicable statutes of limitations.”
But, at the time, the trustee scoffed at the thought that Erika should receive damages for her sold-off earrings.
Since Thomas was forced into bankruptcy in early 2021, the trustees presiding over the many cases against him have been selling off assets in an effort to repay his victims.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 is expected to begin airing on bravo sometime later this year.
