A lawsuit filed by Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, Christina Fulton, claims the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star committed fraud and theft for nearly $745,000, court records show. On July 15, a lawsuit was filed against several former employees of Girardi & Keese, the law firm co-founded by Jayne's estranged husband, Tom Girardi.
Cage's ex-colleagues Girardi and Sorensen misappropriated Fulton's $924,000 settlement funds to support their lifestyles, according to her lawsuit.
Following a car accident in January 2016, Fulton suffered several injuries and the payout was awarded as a result of a personal injury dispute. While Girardi & Keese represented her at the time, she alleges she has received only a small portion of their settlement.
Similarly, Fulton's attorney Ronald Richards told E! News on July 18 that her settlement check had been forged, her money had been stolen shortly after deposit, and her family had been kept in the dark until we began investigating what happened.'
During the lawsuit, Richards noted that the firm offered her small payments as a lure, that she received false status reports verbally and in writing, and that she was let down by the attorneys who represented her in her settlement. Erika Girardi's company, EJ Global LLC, spent the money stolen from the firm's trust account on personal lifestyle expenses.
Richards repeated the lawsuit's claim that Fulton's settlement check had been 'forged,' and said his firm's attorneys had a duty to ensure that funds existed when they stated they did, and to ensure that their joint client signed the settlement check instead of letting someone forge it.'
E! News reported in a statement that Jayne's lawyer, Evan C. Borges, said the lawsuit is 'similar to other pending claims against Erika,' and that it 'has two fundamental problems.'
The first thing to say is Erika, a non-lawyer, had no involvement in Girardi Keese's client relations or monetary management,' Borges said on July 18. A second reason was that Erika had a reasonable belief that her husband was a very wealthy attorney who worked for a highly successful law firm.
Borges continued, 'Everyone ignores the truth, as summarized by Bankruptcy Judge Russell: I accept what she said from the standpoint that given the nature of what I know about the case, to say that she was completely unaware of the shenanigans is an understatement.'
As Borges added, Jayne's lifestyle and image as the star of a reality show aren't legal grounds for suing her, especially for things she didn't do.'Our main focus should be Girardi Keese, as well as, where the evidence supports it, the lawyers, accountants, and financiers who enabled the law firm's misconduct.'
The legal troubles Jayne is experiencing began in late 2020 when she filed for divorce from Girardi and was subsequently charged with fraud for embezzling $2 million in plane crash settlement funds.
After being dismissed from that particular suit, Borges commended the decision and declared Jayne's innocence, but she continues to face several other troubles, including a $50 million racketeering lawsuit. Borges and Jayne have consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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