LOS ANGELES – In a shocking revelation, a former accounting chief at the now-defunct Girardi Keese law firm has been sentenced to 121 months in federal prison for enabling the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the firm’s injured clients and for embezzling money from the law firm itself.
Christopher Kazuo Kamon, 51, formerly of Encino and Palos Verdes and who was residing in The Bahamas at the time of his November 2022 arrest, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton. Judge Staton also ordered Kamon to pay $8,903,324 in restitution.
At today’s hearing, Judge Staton remarked on Kamon’s assistance with the ongoing fraud against Girardi Keese clients, noting he helped build a ‘web of deceit and manipulation.’
Kamon pleaded guilty in October 2024 to two counts of wire fraud.
‘This defendant played a key role in a long-running scheme led by Tom Girardi,’ said United States Attorney Bill Essayli. ‘For nearly 20 years, Kamon enabled Girardi’s scheme to defraud vulnerable clients of the law firm. Ironically, it was Kamon’s own lies that accelerated the law firm’s demise. We hope the sentence imposed today brings a measure of justice to his victims.’
Girardi Keese’s clients were defrauded out of millions of dollars, with one victim-client suffering severe burns all over his body when a natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California in September 2010.
Kamon’s sentence marks the latest development in a long-running saga of corruption and embezzlement at Girardi Keese. The law firm dissolved in January 2021 and the State Bar of California disbarred Girardi in July 2022.
Related Federal Cases
- Amadou Kane Diallo, Wire Fraud, California 2023 · New Jersey
- Mark Roy Anderson, Wire Fraud, California 2023 · Connecticut
- Jeffrey Harrington, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, California 2024 · North Carolina
- Marc Christopher Harmon, Investment Fraud Scheme, California 2024 · Puerto Rico
- Marcela Heredia, Wire Fraud, California 2009 · Puerto Rico
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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