Teresa and Joe Giudice Charged in Fraud Case, Court Documents Reveal History of Shady Dealings
"Real Housewives" star Teresa Giudice and her husband, Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, were indicted on federal fraud charges Monday.
The reality couple has been accused of exaggerating income when applying for loans and not disclosing full income amounts when applying for bankruptcy after they appeared on the "Real Housewives" reality show in 2009. Both husband, 43, and wife, 41, face a 39-count indictment according to reports.
In 2009 the couple filed for bankruptcy claiming over $10 million worth of debt. In an interview just after the filing, Teresa Giudice said on "The View" that she and her husband had run into trouble because tenants living in homes rented out by her husband had failed to pay rent in a downturned economy. The indictment includes conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud.
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In addition, Joe Giudice also faces penalties for failing to file tax returns from 2004-2008, making false claims about employments status and salaries. During that time he is alleged to have earned nearly $1 million.
Court documents obtained and published by RadarOnline.com reveal Joe Giudice admitted to forging a mortgage in 2007 which could have led federal investigators to watch his business dealings closely over the past six years.
In 2007, Joe's former business partner, Joe Mastropole gave him a $586,000 loan, and Joe reportedly paid back $300,000. However, instead of paying the rest of the loan, he forged a June 2007 document with Mastropole's fake signature stating that the mortgage was discharged, or fully paid. Joe reportedly then took out another loan and kept $1 million for himself.
"There should be no doubt that this was not done with authority," Mastropole's lawyer, William Carlo Saracino told the court at the time according to documents obtained by Radar Online. "It could have been easily done by Mr. Mastropole. He could have signed his own discharge of mortgage if that's the way it was going to go down."
