The co-owner of a Hollywood costume firm filed a lawsuit Tuesday against reality TV star Erika Girardi, two of her assistants, current and former U.S. Secret Service agents and American Express, alleging corruption among federal law enforcement to benefit Girardi and her once-influential husband, former Los Angeles attorney Tom Girardi.
In the 70-page suit, Christopher Psaila accuses Erika Girardi and her estranged husband of having “weaponized the Secret Service to maliciously prosecute” him in 2017 in order to secure a $787,000 refund from American Express at a time when the Girardi family was “in desperate financial straits.”
Psaila, the co-owner of costume merchant Marco Marco — which has designed outfits for a slew of pop stars — alleged that Erika Girardi and her two assistants knew that she had purchased and received scores of costumes and services from the costume firm in 2015 and 2016 but falsely claimed to federal agents and to American Express that the store’s charges to her credit card were unauthorized, according to the suit.
Pasaila also contends that the Secret Service conducted a “reckless investigation” into Erika Girardi and her staff’s claims and “deliberately ignored” facts that would help exonerate him. In the suit, he alleges that current and former Secret Service agents concealed evidence that would have either prevented his indictment or led to an acquittal at trial.
The case draws on an investigation by The Times published in February that documented Girardi’s friendship with the head of the Secret Service’s office in L.A., Rob Savage, and the free legal work that Girardi provided Savage.
The Times reported how Girardi personally paid Savage at least $7,500 when his legal efforts on behalf of the official fizzled. At the time, agents under Savage were investigating Psaila.
Savage is one of the three current or former Secret Service officials named as defendants in the lawsuit, which casts Girardi’s legal work as a “bribe and quid pro quo” to Savage.
Tom Girardi, from left, then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Secret Service agent Rob Savage at a Super Bowl party hosted by Girardi in 2015.
(Handout)
“This case reflects the corruption of the federal judicial system,” Psaila’s lawsuit states. “The Secret Service and United States should have never presented the case to the grand jury for indictment, and never proceeded with the prosecution.”
A lawyer for Erika Girardi declined to comment on the suit, but in February, she told The Times she remained convinced that Psaila had falsely billed her for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“In no way did I pull a scam to get $760,000 to help anybody get this money,” she said earlier this year.
A spokesperson for the Secret Service declined to answer questions, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
A spokesperson for American Express told The Times that the company did not initiate the criminal probe of Psaila, adding, “We followed our regular processes and procedures throughout this investigation as we dealt with law enforcement…We did not play any role in the criminal investigation of Mr. Psaila or his business other than responding to inquiries from law enforcement.”
Savage, who retired in 2018, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. He previously denied any exchange of favors, saying the credit card inquiry and his case with Tom Girardi were “completely unrelated.” Savage said he had maintained a friendship with the former lawyer, saying he “occasionally dined with Mr. Girardi always as a friend and within ethics guidelines.”
Psaila was indicted on nine counts in 2017, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. But he insisted on his innocence, put together a dossier of text messages, receipts and photos that he said substantiated the charges on the Girardis’ American Express card.
In 2021, federal prosecutors quietly moved to dismiss the case against him.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday includes two dozen pages of photos, text messages, and billing records that Psaila said proves “beyond all doubt” that he and Marco Marco provided the costumes and services which the indictment claimed were phony or unauthorized.
Matt Hamilton
Source link
