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Nicolas Cage's Ex Christina Fulton Is Suing Erika Jayne Alleging $700K Theft

Home / Stars / Nicolas Cage's Ex Christina Fulton Is Suing Erika Jayne Alleging $700K Theft

By Kristin Myers on July 15, 2022 at 7:15 PM EDT

Actor Nicolas Cage's ex Christina Fulton is suing Erika Jayne and two former Girardi & Keese attorneys alleging that the "RHOBH" star stole more than $700,000 dollars from her.

In a lawsuit filed on Friday, Fulton is accusing Jayne and Girardi & Keese attorneys of alleged fraud and theft.

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Nicolas Cage's Ex Christina Fulton Sues Erika Jayne For Alleged Fraud & Theft Totaling Over $700K

Christina Fulton by Immortal Beauty, Inc.
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In court documents obtained by Page Six, "The Doors" actress claims that Jayne's estranged husband, Tom Girardi, and his ex-colleagues, Samantha Gold and John Kelley Courtney, misappropriated her settlement funds to support their own lavish lifestyles.

In January 2016, Fulton, 55, sustained severe injuries from a car accident. She went to the Girardi & Keese law firm to seek legal representation. Three years later, a confidential settlement agreement was filed on March 18, 2019. According to the court documents, they settled for $924,300 dollars.

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Samantha Gold was listed as Fulton's primary counsel and John Kelley Courtney was listed as a senior attorney on the case. Girardi, now 83, was the owner of the firm at the time.

According to the court documents, Fulton only learned on Thursday, July 14, 2022, where her settlement funds actually went through "newly discovered financial documents." These documents reportedly show that her settlement check had been deposited into a Girardi & Keese bank account without her consent on April 8, 2019.

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Christina Fulton Claims Girardi & Keese Committed 'Complete Outright Forgery'

‘RHOBH’ Unaired Footage Subpoenaed In Ongoing Erika Jayne Legal War
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In the lawsuit, attorneys for Fulton wrote, “This was a complete outright forgery as [Fulton] never endorsed this check and certainly never agreed to have it deposited.”

“This negotiated check was in fact a forgery and a lie," the docs state. "The check was never held in trust but spent. It is beyond shocking and the pale that the firm would conceal the arrival of the check and not obtain Ms. Fulton’s endorsement as required by law.”

According to the court documents, Fulton only received $190,000 from her settlement between April 2019 and September 2020. Fulton's attorneys claim that Girardi was attempting “to dupe his clients into waiting for money by dribbling small payments.”

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A classy Erika Jayne seen in full glam while filming for RHOBH
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Fulton’s attorneys claim they have proof that the settlement funds had been deposited in Girardi & Keese's account in three separate checks. They claim they received $214,000 on April 26, 2019, $1 million on April 12, 2019, and $300,000 on April 10, 2019.

Fulton received an advance of $5,000, so she is seeking a total of $744,300 dollars in damages.

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Why Is 'RHOBH' Erika Jayne Named In The Lawsuit?

Erika Jayne at the Grand Opening of Sushisamba in 2021
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"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne, 51, is named in the lawsuit because Fulton claims that she learned that some of the money from her settlement was "diverted to Erika" through her company, EJ Global, and later transferred to Pretty Mess Inc.

In the court documents, Fulton claims that Jayne and Girardi were using her settlement check "as their own assets" to "pay for their lavish lifestyle." The documents allege that Fulton's "funds were treated as community property" and goes on to state that "Erika used the money to pay off her expenses."

Erika Jayne 2019 People's Choice Awards - Santa Monica
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“For at least 12 years, all of her expenses were paid by Girardi Keese as she was generating them," the documents stated. "No one withdrew money from the firm other than Erika Girardi.”

How Long Did Christina Fulton Date Nicolas Cage For?

Nicolas Cage
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"National Treasure" actor Nicholas Cage, 58, dated Fulton for three years beginning in 1988. They share a 31-year-old son named Weston Coppola.

Ronald Richards, one of the attorneys representing Fulton, told Page Six that both the "Pig" actor and Fulton "trusted Tom and Erika in their legal matter," like "many people in Hollywood."

Richards went on to say that Janye and Girardi were "a public couple who preached wealth and success." However, Fulton now alleges that they only received some of that wealth through her settlement check.

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Nicholas cage arrives to press conference in Toronto for tiff
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“Erika profited off of these funds, which [were] used to provide content for the ‘Housewives’ show to which she was paid for," Richards stated. "She directly received vendor payments from these funds and personally benefited from the misappropriation of our client’s settlement.”

Attorneys for Erika Jayne told Page Six that they haven't read the full complaint yet; however, they believe that "fundamental undisputed facts" will emerge from “all the lawsuits that try to make Erika responsible for the actions” of her estranged husband.

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Christina Fulton by Immortal Beauty, Inc.
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Jayne's attorney said, "It’s a distraction tactic and specious for lawyers representing former [Girardi & Keese] clients to use Erika’s lifestyle and persona on a ‘Housewives’ show as an excuse to sue her,” adding, “The focus should be on Tom Girardi and, where supported by evidence, the lawyers, accountants, and financiers who enabled his misconduct and wrongdoing.”

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