Yesterday Teresa Giudice and Guiseppi (Joe) Giudice were indicted by a federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey on the following charges:

• Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and  Wire Fraud
• Bankruptcy Fraud
• Bankruptcy Fraud – Concealment
• Bankruptcy Fraud – False Oaths
• Bankruptcy Fraud – False Declarations
• Failure to Make Tax Return

The mail fraud and wire fraud counts are related to false statements and documents that the Giudices allegedly submitted in order to get loans. Banks which loaned the Giudices money included Park Avenue Bank, Wachovia (now Wells Fargo), Sterling Bank, and Community Bank of Bergen County.  Non-bank lenders include HomeComings Financial Network, Eastern American Mortgage, and Alterna Mortgage.

The Giudice indictment goes like this: From 2001 to 2008, Teresa was unemployed and had no income. During this period, both Teresa and Joe falsely represented to lenders that they were employed and earning substantial salaries. The reality was that neither had a job and neither had a salary. They allegedly went so far as to prepare fraudulent tax returns, W-2s, and pay stubs to support the lies that they were employed.

Specifically, it is alleged that Teresa represented that she was employed as an executive assistant with Modern Era Investment Corp, earning a monthly salary of $3,750.  Fake W-2s were created to support this.  Teresa represented that she was a self-employed owner of G&G Stucco with a monthly salary of $14,750.  She represented to another lender that she was a self-employed owner of G&G Stucco with a monthly salary of $12,100. A variety of false and fraudulent income tax returns and W-2s were submitted by the Giudices to various lenders, according to the indictment.

How much did this scheme net the Giudices? According to the indictment, the Guidices received loan funds in the following amounts:

• $121,500 from HomeComings
• $20,200 from Eastern American
• $141,550 from Alterna
• $800,000 from Park Avenue
• $251,360 from Wachovia
• $170,252 from Wachovia
• $1,700,000 from Sterling
• $1,720,000 from Community Bank of Bergen County

Yes, that is just shy of $5 million that the Giudices got from lenders with false and fraudulent representations and documentation.

But the fun doesn’t stop there! In October 2009, the Giudices filed for bankruptcy. Teresa and Joe submitted documents signed under the penalty of perjury, and also provided testimony under oath. In August 2011, Joe was denied a bankruptcy discharge. In December 2011, Teresa was denied a bankruptcy discharge.

Why? They had established several companies which were not reported to the bankruptcy court, including TG Fabulicious, 1601 Maple Avenue, and Turbo Fuel. They also received income that was not reported to the bankruptcy court, including rental income, income from TG Fabulicious,  fees for personal appearances and magazine stories, and money from The Real Housewives of New Jersey. (More information on the denial of discharge can be found in court documents here, here, and here.)

Added to this is the fact that Joe Guidice didn’t file income tax returns for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.  During that time, it is alleged that he had approximately $1 million of income which was required to be reported on income tax returns.

This is really, really ugly for the Guidices. I don’t expect that it will end well.

Such an indictment is good news for followers of the Jennifer McKinney (“MckMama”) trainwreck. Jennifer and Israel McKinney filed for bankruptcy in December 2011. In short order, bankruptcy trustee Gene Doeling uncovered all sorts of misrepresentations and undisclosed assets. Like the Giudices, the McKinneys were denied a bankruptcy discharge in October 2012.

Is the McKinney bankruptcy case over? Not necessarily. The wheels of justice move slowly. You can see that it has taken years for the Giudices to be indicted on things that happened between 2001 and 2008. And the indictment happened almost two years after the bankruptcy was closed.

If I were Jennifer McKinney, I would be crapping my pants (not because of all the speed and laxatives she’s peddling via Xyngular), but because she has a well-documented history of problems and problems with the Internal Revenue Service and because her lies to the bankruptcy court are easily uncovered with a little internet research. We can only hope that Gene Doeling has referred this case to the IRS for  a potential criminal investigation.