Erika Jayne’s Attorney Accused of Stealing COVID Relief Money to Fund Her Lifestyle and Stalling Designer’s $18 Million Case Against the RHOBH Star
Erika Jayne‘s friend and attorney, James Wilkes, is being accused of stealing millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds from the United States government in an effort to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Two years after designer Christopher Psaila, of the Marco Marco fashion house, filed an $18 million lawsuit against the 54-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, accusing her of conspiracy and malicious prosecution, the same man is suing James, claiming he was the “mastermind of a conspiracy” behind an alleged plot to delay and derail his initial case against Erika.
According to a November 17 report from Radar Online, Christopher believes James scammed the government out of money meant for those in need by being dishonest about the number of employees he had on payroll.
As Christopher explained, James falsely “represented to the PPP that his firm had 40 full-time positions more than it actually had.”
“The source of the funds that Wilkes used to pay, invest in, or loan Erika Jayne and her team, and to pay attorneys to defend Erika Jayne and team in other lawsuits, were two Covid loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (‘PPP Loans’) in the amounts of $2,393,079 and $2,000,000,” the federal lawsuit explained. “The U.S. Small Business Administration forgave both of these loans, which were meant for salaries for employees who would otherwise be laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As RHOBH fans may recall, Christopher faced fraud charges after he was accused of making $800,000 in fraudulent charges to Erika’s American Express card between 2014 and 2016, and his business was raided the following year. And while the charges against him were eventually found to be false and dropped, he said the allegations caused him to lose “tens of millions of dollars.” He ultimately sued Erika and two former Secret Service agents.
“Any investigation at all, or review of the evidence seized in January 2017, would have uncovered that Marco Marco and Psaila had documented proof that all costumes and services had been supplied to [Jayne], that all the charges were authorized, and that no fraud occurred,” his case stated.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 15 premieres Thursday, December 4, at 8/7c on Bravo.
Bravo star Jeff Lewis’ ‘cruel’ comments quietly taken out of Peacock’s BravoCon special after fans express outrage
JEFF Lewis’ shocking comments during a BravoCon panel have been stripped from the Peacock special following fans’ outrage.
Attendees of this past weekend’s Bravo fan convention were left stunned when the interior designer made an offhand remark about a Real Housewives star.
Over 150 “Bravolebrities” gathered in Las Vegas for the annual convention, including Jeff, 55, who starred in the long-running series Flipping Out.
The TV personality was a part of an “Ask Andy” panel alongside Andy Cohen, 57, when he appeared to “mock” SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits recipients, and take a swipe at Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, Monica Garcia, 42.
A clip from the moment circulated on social media, showing Andy and Jeff on stage during the latter’s surprising rant.
“You brought in women that are maybe not as affluent, and it felt like – I’m just curious why you deviated from the original, like Monica Garcia, for example,” Jeff asked Andy, seemingly discussing Andy’s casting in the franchise.
Andy shook his head, looking dumbfounded by Jeff’s mention of Monica and her personal finances, and the crowd was equally taken aback by the comment.
The Bravo boss tried to change the tone and recover from Jeff’s blatant diss toward the fellow reality star, but Jeff appeared to dig himself in deeper.
“Didn’t her food benefits just get frozen?” the radio host asked.
The audience booed at Jeff’s seemingly uncalled-for remark, and social media erupted in anger after the clip emerged.
“The fact that a rich celebrity can let something like that roll off their tongue when kids around the country are going hungry shows you where we’re at as a society right now,” one TikTok user said upon sharing the video.
“This comment goes FAR beyond Monica; it extends to every family and person on SNAP, struggling, especially in the wake of what’s happened this month.
“It’s disgusting, elitist, and has no place on Bravo let alone anywhere else. I don’t need to see anymore of Jeff Lewis,” someone else commented on Reddit.
“I dont think he has the ability to understand how many people who watch his show are suffering far worse than Monica Garcia.
“But it was worth insulting everyone to for some reason take down a housewife who hasn’t been relevant in 2 seasons?” another reacted.
Others pointed out that Peacock removed the exchange upon releasing it on the platform, which is the official streamer for BravoCon.
“Just watched the “Ask Andy” panel and it’s super bad. Andy does his best to salvage it but Jeff is horrible. Jeff’s awful comments about Monica were edited out. That speaks volumes!” a Reddit user wrote in another thread.
“They cut this out of the rewatchable version on peacock!” a second confirmed.
“True! It was awful. So far I’m not aware of anything that required being edited out, other than Jeff Lewis,” a third replied.
Jeff later revealed in an interview with Us Weekly after the incident that he apologized to Andy and was giving him time to “cool off.”
The California native hasn’t been on Bravo since his show ended in November 2018 after an 11-season run.
However, it was just revealed last week that the real estate speculator is returning to the network with a new series, Still Flipping Out.
According to the official announcement, the show follows Jeff as he “navigates the hilariously unpredictable nature of his professional and personal lives as his trademark spontaneity collides with the people who work with him, for him and still somehow survive him.”
Additional details have yet to be revealed, including the show’s expected premiere date.
