Nicolas Cage’s ex Christina Fulton is suing Erika Jayne and two attorneys who worked at the defunct law firm of disgraced attorney Tom Girardi over alleged fraud and theft.
In new legal documents obtained by Page Six, the 55-year-old actress filed a $700,000+ lawsuit against the 51-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, who filed for divorce in 2020 after over two decades Girardi (83) requested the wedding on Friday.
Girardi’s former colleagues Samantha Gold and John Kelley Courtney have also been accused of misusing Fulton’s settlement funds from a 2016 car accident in which the mother-of-one was “seriously injured as a result”.
Legal troubles continue: Nicolas Cage’s ex Christina Fulton is suing Erika Jayne and two attorneys who worked at disgraced attorney Tom Girardi’s defunct law firm over alleged fraud and theft
After the accident, Fulton was represented by Girardi & Keese, who secured her a confidential settlement of $924,300.
According to the outlet, “Gold was Fulton’s lead counsel, and Courtney was a lead counsel on the case.”
Still, Girardi, who was diagnosed with dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease in March 2021 amid his legal woes, “was the owner and controlling member of her firm at the time.”
Famous ex: Fulton shares her 31-year-old son named Weston Coppola with Nicolas Cage, whom she has been dating for three years from 1988 (pictured in 1988)
Last month, according to Fulton’s lawsuit, she learned through “newly discovered financial documents” that her “settlement check” was allegedly “deposited into a Girardi & Keese bank account without her consent,” according to Page Six.
‘That was a complete fake than [Fulton] never endorsed that check, much less agreed to have it deposited,” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit also alleges, “That negotiated check was in fact a fake and a lie. The check was never held in escrow but issued. It is beyond shocking and paltry that the company withheld receipt of the check and failed to obtain the legally required confirmation from Ms. Fulton.’
As of this writing, the actress has only received a total of $190,000 of her severance pay, plus a $5,000 advance.
She’s looking for the rest of her $744,300 bankroll.
Misled: After the accident, Fulton approached the law firm of Girardi & Keese for legal representation and eventually agreed to a confidential $924,300 settlement; Girardi seen in 2018
Jayne is named in the lawsuit because Fulton allegedly learned that her funds were “redirected” to the singer through her company, EJ Global, and then transferred to Pretty Mess Inc.
In the lawsuit, Fulton speculates that her funds were used to pay for the “lavish lifestyle” of Jayne and her estranged husband.
“The funds were treated as common property,” the lawsuit alleges, before noting the $25 million deposited with EJ Global — which the State of California continues to hold.
Other documents added that “Erika used the money to pay for her expenses” and that “for at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid for by Girardi Keese when she generated them.” Nobody except Erika Girardi has withdrawn money from the company.’
Jayne is named in the lawsuit because Fulton allegedly learned that her funds were “redirected” to the singer through her company, EJ Global, and then transferred to Pretty Mess Inc
One of Fulton’s attorneys, Ronald Richards, told Page Six that, like “a lot of people in Hollywood,” his client “trusted Tom and Erika.”
He explained the emigrants were viewed as a “public couple who preached wealth and success.”
Richards, who made a low-ball bid to buy Girardis’ former Pasadena estate, went on to say, “Erika benefited from those funds that [were] used to provide content for the Housewives show for which it was paid.
“She received direct seller payments from those funds and personally benefited from our client’s misappropriation of the settlement,” he accused.
Meanwhile, Jayne’s attorney points out that she’s not an attorney and “played no part” in her ex’s clients or finances.
In defence, meanwhile, Jayne’s attorney points out that she’s not a lawyer and had “no role” in her ex’s clients or finances; seen in 2021
“The focus should be on Tom Girardi and, where supported by evidence, the lawyers, accountants and financiers who made his wrongdoing and wrongdoing possible,” he stressed.
In addition to that lawsuit, Jayne was named in a $50 million racketeering lawsuit and a $5 million fraud lawsuit.
Jayne was originally named with her estranged spouse in the December 2020 class action lawsuit filed by Edelson PC alleging them of fraud and embezzlement related to $2 million in settlement funds awarded to victims of the Lion Air Flight crash 610 in 2018, in which all 189 people on board died. In January, she was released from the pending lawsuit against Girardi in Illinois.
Jayne has always maintained her innocence and has spoken publicly about being “pulled through the mud” on her reality show on Bravo.
Girardi lived in a nursing home after being diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s and was placed in a conservatory by his brother Robert in July 2021.
Not good: Girardi lived in a care home after being diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s, and in July 2021 he was placed in a conservatory by his brother Robert (pictured in 2017).