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Tag: Christopher Psaila

  • RHOBH’s Erika Jayne’s Settlement Talks Collapse as She Faces February 2026 Trial in Trustee’s $25 Million Lawsuit, Plus Update on Designer’s $18 Million Case

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    Credit: Nicole Weingart/Bravo

    Erika Jayne appears to be headed to trial after failing to settle out of court with the trustee presiding over the bankruptcy case of her estranged husband, Thomas Girardi.

    According to a recent court document shared by attorney Ronald Richards on Instagram, the 54-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star has “little options” as her trial date for the trustee’s $25 million lawsuit is scheduled for early next year.

    “Settlement talks have broken down completely between [Erika Jayne] and the Trustee. A motion was also filed to gut any remaining defenses she had due to admissions in the Psaila case. Pretrial hearing is less than 30 days away with a 2/10/26 trial date now a real thing. Erika has little options. Panic sitting in,” Ronald captioned the December 24 post.

    Along with his message, Ronald included a screenshot of a joint status report, which listed Elissa D. Miller, who sued Erika in April 2022, as the plaintiff and Erika and her companies, including EJ Global, as the defendants.

    The document also confirmed a pre-trial conference set for January 21, 2026, at 1:30 p.m., and a trial date scheduled for February 10, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.

    As for the Psaila case that Ronald mentioned, Erika was accused of falsely claiming that Christoper Psaila‘s design firm, Marco Marco, made $800,000 in fraudulent charges to her American Express card, leading him to file an $18 million lawsuit against her (fellow designer Marco Morante filed his own case against Erika in Florida).

    As she continues to face claims of extortion and plotting to ruin the designers’ careers, Erika could be headed to trial in the case as well.

    The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Bravo.

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    Lindsay Cronin

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  • Erika Jayne’s Attorney Accused of Stealing COVID Relief Money to Fund Her Lifestyle and Stalling Designer’s $18 Million Case Against the RHOBH Star

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    Credit: Rich Polk/Bravo

    Erika Jayne‘s friend and attorney, James Wilkes, is being accused of stealing millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds from the United States government in an effort to fund her lavish lifestyle.

    Two years after designer Christopher Psaila, of the Marco Marco fashion house, filed an $18 million lawsuit against the 54-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, accusing her of conspiracy and malicious prosecution, the same man is suing James, claiming he was the “mastermind of a conspiracy” behind an alleged plot to delay and derail his initial case against Erika.

    According to a November 17 report from Radar Online, Christopher believes James scammed the government out of money meant for those in need by being dishonest about the number of employees he had on payroll.

    As Christopher explained, James falsely “represented to the PPP that his firm had 40 full-time positions more than it actually had.”

    “The source of the funds that Wilkes used to pay, invest in, or loan Erika Jayne and her team, and to pay attorneys to defend Erika Jayne and team in other lawsuits, were two Covid loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (‘PPP Loans’) in the amounts of $2,393,079 and $2,000,000,” the federal lawsuit explained. “The U.S. Small Business Administration forgave both of these loans, which were meant for salaries for employees who would otherwise be laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    As RHOBH fans may recall, Christopher faced fraud charges after he was accused of making $800,000 in fraudulent charges to Erika’s American Express card between 2014 and 2016, and his business was raided the following year. And while the charges against him were eventually found to be false and dropped, he said the allegations caused him to lose “tens of millions of dollars.” He ultimately sued Erika and two former Secret Service agents.

    “Any investigation at all, or review of the evidence seized in January 2017, would have uncovered that Marco Marco and Psaila had documented proof that all costumes and services had been supplied to [Jayne], that all the charges were authorized, and that no fraud occurred,” his case stated.

    The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 premieres Thursday, December 4, at 8/7c on Bravo.

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    Lindsay Cronin

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  • Erika Jayne Loses Court Battle and Faces Trial After Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss $18 Million Lawsuit From Costume Designer, Details Revealed & RHOBH Live Viewing Thread

    Erika Jayne Loses Court Battle and Faces Trial After Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss $18 Million Lawsuit From Costume Designer, Details Revealed & RHOBH Live Viewing Thread

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    Credit: Instagram

    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.

    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. As the episode airs, feel free to post your thoughts below.

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    Lindsay Cronin

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