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Erika Jayne’s Vegas showgirl dreams may get overshadowed by some legal drama.
The TV personality, who recently launched her Las Vegas residency “Bet It All On Blonde,” was sued by costume merchant Christopher Psaila for her alleged involvement in a fraud scheme against Psaila in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
In the multimillion-dollar lawsuit, Psaila – co-founder of costumer Marco Marco – alleges that Jayne, along with a group of Secret Service agents and credit card company American Express, conspired to “maliciously prosecute” him in April 2017 for alleged wire fraud and identity theft on the claim that Psaila defrauded Jayne by charging her American Express card with false charges for goods and services totaling $800,000 to $900,000.
Psaila claims “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star gave him and his business permission to charge her credit card for costumes and services Marco Marco provided for her performances dating back to 2014.
Jayne and estranged husband Tom Girardi allegedly “weaponized” the Secret Service, per Psaila’s filing, by soliciting and bribing agent Robert Savage to launch a federal criminal investigation against Psaila instead of scrutinizing his business dispute with Jayne.
The lawsuit also states that Jayne and Girardi enlisted American Express in their alleged fraud scheme, with Psaila alleging the company failed to investigate Jayne’s claim of unauthorized charges and refunded the couple nearly $800,000.
“Tom Girardi was going bankrupt and used client settlement funds from his law firm, Girardi Keese, to pay for his and Erika (Jayne’s) extravagant lifestyle and personal bills,” the complaint states. “Thus, both Erika (Jayne) and Tom Girardi had a compelling reason to illegally claim that Chris Psaila and Marco Marco had defrauded them.”
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USA TODAY has reached out to Jayne’s representative for comment.
Although the charges against Psaila were dismissed in September 2021, Psaila claims the legal ordeal brought on by Jayne’s fraud allegations caused him to suffer “extreme emotional distress, financial harm to his business, Marco Marco, and extreme emotional, psychological, and physical injuries.”
“While facing false federal credit card fraud charges for nearly five years, Hollywood costume merchant Christopher Psaila’s business was nearly destroyed and his life was devastated,” Psaila’s attorneys said in a press release. “Mr. Psaila’s business lost clients, retailers, and employees, resulting in lost profits and goodwill totaling tens of millions of dollars.”
Psaila is seeking a minimum of $18.2 million in damages and a jury trial.
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