Teresa Giudice and Juicy Joe Giudice were back in court this morning. The stars of Real Housewives of New Jersey were there to answer to new fraud charges. The Giudices were indicted on 39 counts of fraud in July.
Teresa and Joe arrived at federal court in Newark, New Jersey at 10am. They were dressed smartly in dark suits. Per North Jersey the media coverage was small. Also per the website the Giudices both plead not guilty to two additional fraud charges of bank and loan application fraud. Their total number of indictments is now 41.
The federal government had been investigating Tre and Juicy for several years. The couple filed chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009. Two years later they decided to withdraw their petition, which triggered an investigation into their finances. It is alleged that the Giudices inflated their income in order to obtain mortgages. It is also alleged that Juicy did not pay taxes for 4 years.
In July, New Jersey tax attorney Todd Unger, who does not represent the Giudices, told E! Online “When you file for bankruptcy, everything is public. If you have someone that owes back taxes and at some point they have filed bankruptcy, the government can go and just pull that bankruptcy record, just like you or I can, and they can start looking at inconsistencies. ‘Well, wait a minute, what’s this, what’s that? Most tax cases, by the way, are not your typical ‘Hey, I didn’t pay taxes.’ Those are very rare. Typically they would come through an audit where the government would say, ‘Wait a minute, you’ve got all these assets. How are you affording this, you didn’t receive an inheritance, you didn’t receive gifts…’
In addition to the fraud charges Joe is facing legal trouble stemming from defrauding the DMV. He allegedly used his brother’s information to obtain a driver’s license after losing his own due to a DUI.
Tre and Juicy’s fraud trial will begin February 24, 2014. The legal drama will not interfere with their Bravo schedule. Filming Real Housewives can be very stressful, but the Giudices will probably welcome the distraction.
Image credit to FameFlynet