Reuters
Federal prosecutors in Chicago and Los Angeles on Wednesday filed criminal charges against disbarred California attorney Tom Girardi, accusing him of taking more than $18 million in funds belonging to his clients. Prosecutors in Los Angeles charged Girardi, 83, with five counts of wire fraud for allegedly embezzling $15 million from 2010 to 2020, while prosecutors in Chicago charged him with eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of criminal contempt of court. Chicago prosecutors alleged that Girardi misappropriated more than $3 million in client funds owed to families of the victims of the 2018 Boeing 737 MAX Lion Air Flight 610 crash in Indonesia.