BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: According to a recent complaint, Erika Jayne employed Secret Service personnel and American Express to extort money from a Hollywood designer, damaging his life and career in the process. Chris Psaila is suing 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star and two Secret Service officials, alleging that Erika bribed the agents and had them prosecute him over her accusations that his costume company improperly charged her over $800,000.
Erika allegedly granted Chris and his business, Marco Marco, permission to use her credit card to pay for costumes and other services he designed, created, and offered for her performances, according to the lawsuit obtained by TMZ.
Chris also claims that Erika's estranged husband, Tom Girardi, was the account holder and that she was an authorized user.
Chris alleges he began working with Erika in 2014, and things were going well until she untruthfully claimed Chris had charged between $800,000 and $900,000 in unauthorized fees on her credit card between 2015 and 2016.
Chris swears Erika received all items and services as a result of these payments. In the documents, he believes Erika and Tom used the Secret Service against him, claiming the former couple bribed agent Robert Savage, then the chief of the Secret Service's Los Angeles office, to criminally investigate Chris and eventually charge him with crimes. Chris further alleges that AMEX accepted Erika's bogus declarations of unauthorized payments and repaid Erika and Tom over $787k without providing the designer a chance to refute her claims, and that AMEX informed the Secret Service that Erika was a victim of his scam.
Chris argues in his suit that Tom and Robert had a friendly connection, and that Robert had a "history of falsely billing for advance Presidential location scouting trips" that pushed him out of the Secret Service. Chris believes Tom bribed Robert by agreeing to represent him in a lawsuit against Volkswagen and promising to pay him $100,000 when the investigation against Chris began.
The designer claims Tom and Robert's relationship was not disclosed when he was facing prosecution, and that while the criminal case against him was eventually dismissed nearly 5 years after it began, he suffered extreme emotional distress, financial harm to his business, and extremely emotional, psychological, and physical injuries as a result of the ordeal.
When contacted for comment on the case, Robert directed TMZ to an interview he did with the L.A. Times months ago – and furnished the outlet with his Q&A – when he had USSS permission to answer questions.
'RHOBH' star Erika Jayne's legal woes
Even though Erika freely discussed her legal issues on 'RHOBH', additional drama began to unfold off-camera. After filing for divorce from Tom, the TV personality's legal issues first made news in November 2020. Erika, who debuted on Bravo in 2015 with her then-husband, was later cited in a fraud case that claimed she and Tom had stolen $2 million from victims of an aircraft tragedy. The native of Georgia continued to record 'RHOBH' throughout the legal proceedings, using the program to demonstrate her innocence.
In August 2021, Erika was sued for $25 million by the trustee in charge of Girardi Keese's bankruptcy case. Erika was accused of participating in business transactions handled by Girardi & Keese and knowing that her extravagant lifestyle was being financed illegally in the $2.1 million lawsuit filed in February 2022.
Erika and Tom were accused of a number of crimes by Edelson PC in April 2022, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, receiving stolen property, helping to conceal stolen property, having and receiving money, conversion, illegal business practice, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and deceit. The company was asking for a minimum of $55 million in damages at the time.
In July 2022, Christina Fulton filed a claim of fraud and theft against the Bravo personality. Christina claimed in her lawsuit at the time that Erika utilized the $924,300 from her settlement amount to maintain her way of life. The author of 'Pretty Mess' was purportedly defrauded of $750,000 by Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, who claimed it was done through her EJ Global business.
In August 2022, after returning from a trip to Hawaii, the 'Painkillr' singer was at the Los Angeles airport when she was served with a $50 million lawsuit. Erika was approached by a lady who handed her a stack of papers as she and her 'RHOBH' co-stars Lisa Rinna and Diana Jenkins were in the baggage claim area.
At the end of August, Erika won a significant legal win in the $5 million fraud case brought by two of her estranged husband's solicitors, Philip R. Sheldon and Robert P. Finn.
Are 'RHOBH's Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi still married?
While announcing the beginning of her Las Vegas residency, Erika chatted with People. Naturally, the topic of the Real Housewives and her ex-husband of 21 years came up. While Erika enters the third season of 'RHOBH' after the incident, the legal proceedings are still ongoing. After 20 years of marriage, Erika filed for divorce from Tom in November 2020, amid many court cases involving the powerful attorney's alleged misbehavior.
Who is 'RHOBH' star Erika Jayne dating now?
Years after divorcing Tom, Erika has disclosed that she is discreetly seeing a younger guy. On the episode of the podcast 'Two Ts in a Pod' airing on August 29, the Bravo star revealed details about her recent romance. Given the almost three-decade age difference between Erika and her ex-husband, Tom, presenters Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge questioned Erika throughout the program about whether she has always been drawn to older guys. The 51-year-old then teased information about her new fling and his noticeably younger age.
"No, I'm actually seeing someone younger now," she admitted.
Erika was unable to provide the two surprised hosts with much more information about her new love interest, despite their repeated requests. "I can't. I promised we'd be private," the TV star said.
The Real Housewives star did, however, drop other hints about her guy, such as his age and brown hair. "He's younger than me… He's in his late 30s," Erika said of the man.
