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Back in 2014 Teresa Giudice and then-husband Joe Giudice pled guilty fraud charges.
They both wound up serving time in prison, and Joe was deported to Italy upon his release.
These days, Teresa is in tax trouble once again, and the situation has prompted a re-examination of her past legal troubles.
In the months following her arrest, Teresa blamed her legal woes on everyone from her brother to her Real Housewives of New Jersey costar Caroline Manzo.
Teresa’s blame game falls flat, as investigator reveals she was the cause of her own imprisonment
But according to director of IRS field operations Joe Larsen, she had no one to blame but herself.
“In 2012, one of the case agents of IRS Criminal Investigation happened to be watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and it shows a significant amount of cash that was being expended by Teresa. So we started to peel back the layers,” Larsen said in a recent episode of the Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries, Hollywood Demons (per Reality Blurb).
The scene Larsen was referring to showed Teresa shelling out $120,000 in cash for new furniture.
The ensuing investigation led to the discovery of multiple instances in which the Giudices obtained loans under false pretenses.
“We identified one loan application way before the TV show. She supplied pay stubs. That job did not exist. She had applied for another mortgage, and this time she claimed she was a realtor making $15,000 a month, and when in fact it was totally fabricated,” Larsen shared.
When Joe and Teresa filed for bankruptcy after gaining reality TV fame, they lied in the other direction, claiming that they were earning far less than they actually were.
“After the first season here in New Jersey, Teresa and Joe filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but they claimed that they were earning less than what they actually were,” Larsen revealed.
“In addition, Joe and Teresa had not filed a tax return for at least eight years, from 2000 to 2008.”
Teresa is back in the hot seat
These days, Teresa is in trouble with the IRS once again, as she and husband Luis Ruelas allegedly owe more than $3 million in back taxes.
She’s still a regular on RHONJ, but it’s unclear how long the show will continue running (there was no reunion special this year, for the first time ever), and the specifics of Teresa’s financial situation are unclear.
Insiders say she’s dismissed concerns and assured loved ones that she’s got the situation well in hand.
But it’s worth noting that she was probably just as blasé back in 2014!
