Entertainment

The Giudice Saga Continues

by Lia Beck

The Giudices of The Real Housewives of New Jersey fame have been facing a ton of legal and financial trouble recently, but the couple recently received some shocking news. Reportedly, Teresa and Joe Giudice are only paying $7,500 to creditors to erase more than $13 million in debt. This decision was made by a bankruptcy judge according to TMZ. The site also claims to have obtained documents showing that the Giudices' lavish life was a lie — not surprising considering these are two people who were charged with 41 counts of fraud. The Giudices are said to have had very little equity in anything they appeared to own. TMZ reports, "They have a $1.7 million house with only $140K in equity. There are 2 other properties where they have NO equity."

New Jersey's The Star-Ledger, on the other hand, obtained their own documents and say that after their bankruptcy trustee filed his final report, the Giudices "still owe $13.4 million to their creditors, who can once again pursue the couple for repayment." According to Ronald LeVine, a bankruptcy attorney not involved with the case, "They are going to owe whatever they owed, as if they had not fought bankruptcy. They're completely stuck with their debt."

Whether or not the Giudices are in the clear for their multimillion dollar, they still face jail time for the fraud charges they pleaded guilty to in March. Joe entered a guilty plea for five charges of the 41 and Teresa for four meaning Joe currently faces 46 months in prison and deportation back to his native Italy while Teresa faces 21 to 27 months. The Giudices sentencing is planned for July 8.

In the meantime, it has been reported that the couple are still participating in season six of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. The show recently completed filming except for ever-important reunion which the Giudices may not get to participate in because of sentencing. There are some things more important than talking to Andy Cohen.