Judge Catherine Bauer of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana ordered the Eagan Avenatti law firm to pay the $10 million to Jason Frank, a lawyer who used to work at the Newport Beach firm.

“At this point, that’s what’s appropriate,” Bauer said at a brief hearing.

To settle his law firm’s bankruptcy, Avenatti had personally guaranteed that the $2 million would be paid to Frank last week, but both he and his firm failed to turn over the money.

At the hearing, the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Avenatti’s firm has also defaulted on back taxes that it promised to pay the Internal Revenue Service under another bankruptcy settlement.