Los Angeles – Christopher Kamon, the former CFO of the law firm led by disgraced attorney Tom Girardi, has consented to plead guilty to federal charges of wire fraud. This development came to light after court documents were filed on Tuesday, revealing a plea agreement in which Kamon will forfeit $3.1 million and accept responsibility for helping Girardi swindle millions of dollars from clients’ settlements.
Under the terms of the deal, which led to the dismissal of additional charges in Los Angeles, Kamon admitted to collaborating closely with Girardi in a grand scheme that misled and defrauded numerous clients for years. His guilty plea is scheduled for Friday in a federal court in downtown Los Angeles, where Kamon has been held since his arrest in December 2022.
Kamon’s legal representative, Michael Severo, declined to comment when reached Tuesday evening.
This case unfolds against the backdrop of the conviction of 85-year-old Girardi, who was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud weeks earlier. Girardi, once hailed as a top plaintiffs’ attorney, saw his career and reputation tarnished by serious financial misconduct allegations.
Originally, Kamon and Girardi were slated to stand trial together this summer. However, their cases were separated following arguments from defense lawyers who highlighted a profound conflict in their defense strategies, with both planning to pin the blame on the other.
During Girardi’s trial, his defense attempted to shift fault to Kamon, suggesting that the manipulation of the firm’s finances, specifically the embezzlement through dozens of bank accounts, was masterminded by Kamon.
As part of his plea agreement, Kamon provided a detailed seven-page statement detailing the duo’s fraudulent practices. He outlined how Girardi would inquire daily about the balances of the firm’s bank accounts. If funds were low, Girardi instructed Kamon to transfer money from client trust accounts, falsely labeling these transfers as “attorney fees”—a practice that was reportedly known among other senior lawyers at the firm.
Besides these misdeeds, Kamon admitted to an additional scheme that ran from 2013 to 2020, where he siphoned funds from the firm through the creation of fictitious vendors and fraudulent invoices, diverting money to finance personal construction projects at his homes in Palos Verdes and Encino.
The plea agreement does not shield Kamon from other legal troubles. He, alongside Girardi, faces charges in a federal court in Chicago. They are accused of misappropriating $3 million intended for the widows and orphans of the victims of the Boeing 737-Max crash in Indonesia.
Kamon faces a maximum of 40 years in prison for the charges he has agreed to plead guilty to, along with potential fines and three years of supervised release. Prosecutors, complying with the plea agreement, will recommend a sentence at the lower end of federal guidelines and propose a two-level reduction in his sentencing.
This case highlights a significant breach of trust and underscores the severe consequences of fraudulent activities conducted within the legal profession, once again casting a shadow over the integrity of legal practices involving client funds.