Erika Jayne just suffered a major loss in court.
As bankruptcy proceedings against her estranged husband, Thomas Girardi, continue, a judge has ruled that former clients of the attorney, including Joseph Ruigomez, Jaime Ruigomez, and Kathleen Ruigomez, will be allowed to collect the money he owes them from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member.
According to court records obtained by PEOPLE, a judge made his ruling on Tuesday, noting that the Ruigomez family can pursue a collections lawsuit against Erika for the $11 million they are owed from Thomas for a settlement he got them in 2013.
As RHOBH fans may have heard, Thomas is accused of transferring $20 million to Erika’s various businesses before being forced into involuntary bankruptcy months ago.
“All assets identified by the Ruigomez family shall be subject to all rights of the Girardi bankruptcy estate and the [Girardi Keese] bankruptcy estate, which parties shall meet and confer in good faith to determine the character/ownership of the identified assets,” a new document states, also noting, “The Ruigomez Family, the Girardi Trustee, and the GK Trustee shall cooperate with each other with their collection efforts against Erika.”
Joseph Ruigomez was injured in the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion in 2010. His case against Thomas was featured in Hulu’s recent documentary, The Housewife and the Hustler.
“We thought he could win [the case for us],” Joe’s sister, Jamie, said in the doc. “We didn’t know how much of a snake he would be along the way.”
After securing a massive settlement for the Ruigomez family in the years after the explosion, Thomas failed to turn over the funds, and instead, he told them he put the funds into one of his investments. Then, in 2017, after Thomas refused to make monthly payments, the family filed a lawsuit against them.
In 2020, Thomas agreed to pay the family $12 million, starting with an initial payment of $1 million and a second payment of $2.5 million.
“He never got to the second payment,” Joe’s mother, Kathy, claimed.
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