Bethenny Frankel, an alum of The Real Housewives of New York City, revealed she knew about Tom Girardi's legal mess years ago. Tom, who once appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, is currently under investigation for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from his clients over the years. The lawyer's most notable victims include those who didn't receive their full settlement funds after losing loved ones in the Lion Air 2018 plane crash.
His ex-wife Erika Jayne, whose been a cast member on RHOBH since season 6, is also entangled in the legal issues as Tom allegedly funneled the money through her LLC. Over the years, her former husband and his firm had added more than $20 million to her account that paid for her credit card bill, her glam team, and her assistants. However, Erika, who may quit RHOBH, has since denied that claim, revealing she had nothing to do with Tom's money dealings.
On Thursday, the Skinny Girl founder posted a new episode of her Just B iHeartRadio podcast where she brought up the estranged couple. They came into conversation while Bethenny was discussing housewives who have been "canceled" or "demoted" over the years. The 50-year-old believes Erika has been "semi-demoted" on the show due to the scandal. While Bethenny hasn't been keeping up with the show, she does have a "specific perspective" on Erika and Tom's legal issues due to her ex-fiancé Dennis Shields. Dennis, who passed away in 2018 from an alleged overdose, worked with Tom, who is $101 million in debt, in the legal field. After Bethenny had discovered Erika was spending $40,000 per month on her glam, something she found difficult to sustain, she decided to bring it up to Dennis.
He told Bethenny, "He doesn't have it like that. He owes me money. He owes me half a million dollars." She went on to say that at the time, Tom owed another guy a million and a half dollars, which confused her as the singer was flying around on private planes. Dennis then revealed that Tom was allegedly using other people's and the companies money to support Erika's lifestyle because he couldn't say no to her. Bethenny, who celebrated her anniversary with Paul, continued to say that Tom's financial issues were a "widely known best-kept secret" in the legal industry. After Dennis unloaded this information onto Bethenny, she began telling some people in the Bravo universe that the Girardi's aren't what they seem. She told Erika's RHOBH costars Lisa Rinna and Kyle Richards about the facade Erika and Tom had put up, as well as reunion host Andy Cohen.
It seems the legal troubles started way before Tom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Erika had said on RHOBH that Tom's legal issues were likely caused by him being mentally incapable. However, Bethenny's story overrides Erika's as she was told this information between 2017 and 2018. Erika and Tom's case keeps getting more and more captivating.
Source: Just B