Teresa Giudice is staring into the eyes of her most relentless and intimidating enemy yet, and unlike her co-stars on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, this opponent has no interest in making up and no plans on backing down. This morning, the Federal Government of the United States of America officially charged the reality star along with her husband Joe Giudice with a litany of offenses, most of which could be filed under the heading “fraud”.
According to Fox News, a grand jury okayed Uncle Sam to file thirty-nine counts in all. From mail fraud to wire fraud to hiding assets during the couple’s recent bankruptcy to not paying income taxes between 2004 and 2008 to obtaining mortgages illegally, the list of money-related crimes is extremely long, and at this point, it seems like it will be a huge uphill battle to keep the famous couple out of jail. If convicted on all the charges, they could spend five decades or so in jail.
Here’s a portion of the official statement on the case from US Attorney Paul J Fishman. You’ll notice it contains a cute little nod to Teresa’s fame…
"The indictment returned today alleges the Guidices lied to the bankruptcy court, to the IRS and to a number of banks. Everyone has an obligation to tell the truth when dealing with the courts, paying their taxes and applying for loans or mortgages. That's reality.”
Since Real Housewives Of New Jersey began airing back in 2009, Joe’s very real legal problems and the couple’s money issues have been mined for subject matter. For a long time, it was widely assumed nothing serious would happen to Teresa, at least legally, but thanks to the new filings, we now know the Government is going after her too. As such, this drama drama could provide some riveting episodes of RHONJ and/ or it could remove arguably the most popular woman on the show.
For whatever reason, there are a lot of celebrities who (allegedly) try to cheat when it comes to paying taxes and dealing with banks on monetary issues. Given how slow the IRS can be at fact checking and how simple it seems to lie, those who attempt to stretch the truth can usually get away with it for a bit, but in the long run, the Federal Government tends to unleash holy hell on rich people who don’t pay what they owe. In the long run, saving a little money isn’t worth the potential of being deprived of your freedom, and besides, most people wind up spending more money defending themselves in court than they would have by actually paying the full amount.
In the coming weeks, we should get more information on what exactly the wire fraud and mail fraud charges entail, as well as how many illegal mortgages the Giudices might have obtained. When we get that information, we’ll bring it to you. Until then, keep your own financial ducks in a row.
