Erika Jayne has just suffered what is being described as one of her “worst” court losses.
On Tuesday, a judge denied the 52-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member’s request to have a lawsuit filed against her by fashion designer Christopher Psaila dismissed, which could ultimately send her to trial. Christopher was arrested and indicted on charges of fraud after being accused of charging $787,000 to Erika’s American Express card.
“Devastating day for Erika Girardi, to our surprise, the federal court in a short opinion DENIED her SLAPP motion to dismiss Christopher Psaila’s case,” attorney Ronald Richards revealed on Twitter on February 27. “[Erika] will now face a trial on allegations she falsely got her costume designer charged. Nothing is ever a lock in court. Congrats to Marco Marco! This is one of her worst losses as she won’t be able to delay this trial and the facts are bad for her.”
In February 2023, it was reported that Thomas Girardi, 84, may have used his connection to Lorenzo Robert Savage III, head of the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Secret Service, to bring charges against Christopher in regard to supposedly unauthorized charges he made to Erika’s credit card in exchange for Thomas representing Lorenzo in a separate case.
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Christopher denied the charges against him. And ultimately, after plenty of heartache that followed Erika being refunded the money, which was payment for costumes Christopher’s company, Marco Marco, made for the RHOBH cast member, the charges were dismissed.
In a statement at the time, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in L.A. reacted to a potential mishandling of the situation by the Secret Service, who allegedly investigated the charges without hearing Christopher’s side of the story.
“We ultimately determined that law enforcement evidence preservation issues undermined our ability to prosecute the case and the interests of justice supported dismissal,” the statement said.
Months later, Christopher sued Erika for over $18 million, alleging she and Thomas participated in an extortion scheme against him and his business and ruined his career.
After the filing of Christopher’s case, Erika’s attorney, Evan Borges, responded with a statement.
“Plaintiff’s claims against Erika are entirely without merit. Independent federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office made the decision to charge plaintiff with crimes, no one else. The notion that Erika controlled the U.S. Government, or for that matter a Fortune 100 company such as American Express, is fantasy,” he stated.
RHOBH Live Viewing – This is also the live viewing thread for part one of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 reunion, which airs tonight at 8/7c on Bravo.