FOLLOW US

In early 2023, Girardi was charged with wire fraud over the alleged theft of millions from his firm's ex-clients. Girardi Keese's former chief financial officer, Christopher Kamon, has also been charged and accused of siphoning off millions of dollars in a "side-fraud" scheme. Both have pled not guilty, and in early January Girardi, who claimed to have dementia, was found competent to stand trial. Girardi's legal team argued in a recent motion that the publicity surrounding the case requires jurors to be questioned individually, and that a court-issued questionnaire would shorten the in-courtroom voir dire process. In arguing against a questionnaire, prosecutors said cases cited by Girardi to support one were not comparable. They also pointed to other high-profile cases in the Central District of California and elsewhere where judges rejected the need for a juror questionnaire, including criminal corruption cases for former Los Angeles City Councilmembers Jose Huizar and Mark Ridley-Thomas. Prosecutors also said that much of Girardi's motion focuses on his estranged wife, who is not scheduled to be called as a witness. "A fulsome voir dire process is certainly necessary in this trial; however, the court already has in place sufficient protocols to ensure a fair and impartial jury without expending the additional resources," prosecutors said in the motion. The government is represented by E. Martin Estrada, Mack E. Jenkins, Scott Paetty, and Ali Moghaddas of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Girardi is represented by J. Alejandro Barrientos, Samuel Cross, and Charles Snyder of the Federal Public Defender's Office for the Central District of California. Kamon is represented by Michael Vincent Severo of the Law Offices of Michael V. Severo APC. The case is U.S. v. Girardi, case number 2:23-cr-00047, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.