http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2014/04/teresa_giudice_real_housewives_bankruptcy_joe_giudice.html It's the end of an era: The bankruptcy trustee overseeing Joe and Teresa Giudice's finances has submitted his final report, which says the couple only satisfied $7,500 of their debts and still owe $13.4 million to their creditors, who can once again pursue the couple for repayment. That was on hold while the case winded its way through the bankruptcy system — and while the Giudices fought a massive federal indictment alleging, among other things, bankruptcy fraud. (They pleaded guilty in March to several counts of financial fraud.) The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" couple filed for bankruptcy in 2010, blaming the recession's impact on Joe Giudice's construction business, but when John Sywilok, their court-appointed trustee, alleged that the couple had hid assets and income, Joe Giudice in 2011 invoked the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination and agreed to a settlement in which the court denied discharge of his debts. His wife later followed suit. Since then, Sywilok has sought to satisfy creditors via the Giudices' homes and possessions, but they were mostly financed to the hilt. According to the final report, Sywilok had been able to secure $15,000 from the couple instead of seizing and selling off their own household goods and furnishings, but most of that went toward bankruptcy administrative fees. The couple's outstanding debts include $5.4 million to Wachovia, $1.7 million to the Community Bank of Bergen County, $1.3 million to Dime Savings Bank, more than $500,000 to the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and more than $386,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the report. "They are going to owe whatever they owed, as if they had not fought bankruptcy," says Ronald LeVine, a Hackensack bankruptcy attorney unconnected with the case. "They're completely stuck with their debt." The couple's financial fraud case appeared to be triggered by the 2009 bankruptcy filing, although in addition to bankruptcy fraud, federal prosecutors alleged the couple also defrauded banks in order to obtain mortgages. They will be sentenced July 8. Joe Giudice faces a recommended sentence of 37 to 46 months, while Teresa Giudice faces up to 27 months. "It was a terrible decision to file for bankruptcy," LeVine says. "They might have gotten away under the radar otherwise."
