Teresa Giudice/Jew-Dee-Chay is home from her 15 months in federal prison. In addition to her husband, four daughters and private spray tan session, Teresa was welcomed home with a brand new Lexus.
People was there to document Teresa’s homecoming and her new bow-wrapped SUV—said to be a gift from her husband and soon-to-be inmate, Joe.
In case you need a refresher, Teresa and Joe Giudice pleaded guilty to a handful of financial crimes that included bank fraud and tax evasion. In addition to their time in prison, they were ordered to pay more than $400,000 in restitution.
In 2009, the Giudices filed for bankruptcy, reportedly owing around $11 million. The couple’s $3 million New Jersey palace was in foreclosure earlier this year, as was their $348,000 Jersey Shore beach house. According to the New York Daily News they’ve somehow been able to stay up to date on the $10,000-a-month mortgage payments on their mansion, which is apparently now out of foreclosure.
Bravo did air a special about Teresa’s time in prison, but it is unclear how else she and Joe have been earning money. Teresa will undoubtedly film a new season of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, but even though the show pays well, I don’t think it pays that well. Needless to say, a brand new $88,000 Lexus doesn’t make sense in this equation.
Strangely, a now deleted story on Radar Online says that the car was purchased not by Joe, but by Teresa’s lawyer.
This is extraordinarily generous of James Leonard if true. Have they even paid what I’m sure are their incredibly expensive legal bills yet? Is there a time frame for him getting his money back, because I’m sure all of Joe and Teresa’s creditors would like an update as well.
If nothing else, the optics of this are pretty disgraceful, but that’s a lesson the Giudices have never been able to grasp.
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Image via Steve Mack/Getty.
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Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
