NYDailyNews.com:
On TV they live large — in a 10,000-square-foot McMansion full of garish baubles and expensive toys in an ode to the bad taste and excessive spending that has made “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” a Bravo hit.
It’s the lifestyle Joe and Teresa Giudice — who grew up together as working-class Italian-American kids — always hungered for but could never truly afford, sources said, even when they convinced themselves and everyone around them they could.
The Giudices’ shaky facade of massive personal wealth — increasingly fragile since a 2009 Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing — finally imploded in a spectacular way last week when they were hit with a 39-count criminal fraud indictment.
The federal charges range from allegations that the two conspired to forge W-2 forms, tax returns, pay stubs and other documents to trick banks into lending them money, to accusations of perjury and false statements in their bankruptcy proceedings.
If convicted, Teresa, 41, and her husband Joe, 43, could each face up to 50 years in prison.
Joe, an Italian citizen, is also charged with not filing taxes for four years and faces state charges of using his brother’s identity to obtain a false driver’s license after he lost his to a DWI.
In true Teresa style, the Giudices faced their latest financial disaster head-on and with cameras rolling, standing side-by-side Wednesday in a New Jersey court as they listened to the charges against them.
After the hearing, the two fled and holed up in the house of Joe’s parents — as his father mooned reporters who followed them.
The family kept a low profile for a few days, but Teresa remembered to feed her fans with a few upbeat pictures of her and her four young girls on a Hamptons beach Friday.
“Hanging at the beach with @lexmanzo girls having a great time with her,” Teresa tweeted, referring to the daughter of one of her friends.
“Hamptons visit with my girls,” she wrote in another tweet, with the hashtag #greatfriends and a picture of her looking relaxed and windswept next to Dina Manzo, a former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member, and another pal.
Despite Teresa’s brave face, the timing of the financial meltdown couldn’t have been worse for the mother of four, who after years of struggling had finally hit the sweet spot of cashing in on her fame.
The dark-haired, table-flipping, word-mangling stay-at-home mom somehow managed to parlay her lowbrow Italian schtick into a burgeoning brand, commanding advances of nearly $300,000 for her best-selling cookbooks and putting her name on a host of other products.
Her unpolished presentation and love of all things over-the-top and tacky seemed to hit a chord with many fans, who only chuckled when Teresa said things like “ingredientses” while touting her homemade Italian cooking.RELATED: ‘RHONJ’ Recap: Teresa Giudice & Jacqueline Laurita Fight Over The Past
Her recent role as the family breadwinner was not lost on “RHONJ” viewers, who’ve watched Joe Giudice struggle over four seasons since 2009 to keep his failing business ventures afloat while his wife suddenly developed a Midas touch.
“Without her, Joe would be living on the streets right now. He’d be homeless,” said one source with knowledge of the family.
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