Joe Giudice… Took The Fifth
Joe Joodice took the Fifth when questioned in a depostion by the bankruptcy trustee regarding his income and assets in preparation for his December 22 Bankruptcy Court date. Details… here.
Joe and Teresa Giudice filed a total of approximately $11 million owed to creditors in their bankruptcy filing.
Juicy has some smart attorneys… on advice of counsel, he has invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and will do so (Presuming his attorneys continue to advise their client in protecting himself…) on any further questioning. The bankruptcy trustees had the goods on him; he protected himself; and Juicy is now waiving his entitlement to a discharge of the bankruptcy filing for any and all debt.
The Joodice’s next court date in their bankruptcy is October 14. Both court dates (October 14 and December 22) will continue against Tree.
oh my. My head is swimming. What does this mean? Is he gonna just pay everybody like he should have in the first place? Seems like he should have to pay court costs too. No doubt Tree will take the 5th too right? I dont understand this stuff. Ms Sh Please break it down for me in language that Milania can understand.
I was following along until that last sentence “now waiving his entitlement to a discharge of the bankruptcy filing for any and all debt”. I’m not sure what that means
MP/sd: Tree/Jo filed a chapter 7, meaning they want all their debts to go away (“discharge in bankruptcy”). Creditors can object to the dischargeabilty of their specific debt (stuff like support/alimony, student loans, etc are not dischargeable)–which is what the former business partner did, saying there was fraud, etc and the Judge agreed (opinion is in the SH masthead). So he can continue to chase Joe, but not Tree.
The Trustee also sued saying there were all kinds of stuff not reported on the bankruptcy papers–assets they owned, income they received, etc, so she was objecting to the discharge of the rest of their debts on the grounds that they are not entitled to have the debts go away (that trial is the one scheduled for December 23).
The Trustee asked Joe some written questions that his criminal defense attorney advised him not to answer because it might incriminate him. (Remember, they already have Joe’s testimony in that earlier case, as well as the Judge’s opinion that Joe is less than truthful, so anything Joe said that contradicts his earlier testimony or that conflicts with what other witnesses have truthfully told the Trustee, potentially exposes him to perjury, if not other charges.)
So it was pretty much assured that he was going to lose in December and, likely as not, rather than piss off the Trustee and the Judge by wasting more time and money, he finally did an honorable thing and agreed to withdraw his bankruptcy and forever give up the right to seek discharge for any of the debts listed on the petition. Those creditors are now free to go after Joe.
The agreement specifically kept Tree in bankruptcy, so her protection continues. Basically it’s now as if only she filed in the first place. Their joint property is still safe from his creditors.
Hope that helps.
who: Nicely done, thanks! I suspect the settlement has a confidentiality clause but do you think JoDice will have to pay court costs, fees or anything else? Since this is a pretty high profile case, I can’t imagine the Trust would let him walk away without some penalty. Or is the fact that he can never seek discharge of the listed debts considered penalty enough?
Thanks, AOM, I appreciate that!! The Consent Order is silent on further costs, fees, etc. It does contain some BS that it is the entire agreement between the parties and that the Trustee has not made any promises, etc to induce Joe’s consent to the Order. Given that he is admitting to $7,193,723.47 in “unsecured non-priority claims” which I assume means those creditors that are now free to pursue him and from whom he can no longer hide, that’s pretty bad, although collectibility will always be an issue.
And the agreement does not bind the US Attorney from looking into it for any criminality he may have already committed. Remember, the notary who used to work in his office testified that he told her that he threw away all her notary stuff, but then he used it in furtherance of the forgery of the ex-business partner’s signature.
No, thank you who! Any idea if his admission to the $7,193,723.47 in “unsecured non-priority claims” means that he can’t dispute the validity of those debts? For example, he can’t fight with Mastercard (if they’re a creditor) over the amount he owes? If so, each creditor could get a quick judgment (not always so easy) against him and start collection proceedings immediately.
I hear you about the US Attorney but if they’re just going after perjury charges, seems unlikely they’ll waste their resources. But I could see a zealous state or county prosecutor use the notary thing to try to make a name for him/herself.
Not counting the Mastropole debt, Joe claims that about $6.2 million arises from personal guarantees of various business loans/mortgages. Of the balance, very little of the credit card/consumer debt is listed as disputed and it looks like somebody already has a $128,000 award. And of course the statute of limitations may have run on some of this so there will likely be a major flurry of activity in the next thirty days. (Bankruptcy dismissal orders tell creditors that they are now free to pursue the debtor and if the time for them to sue ran out during the bankruptcy, they get an extra thirty days.)
Thanks who! Is the bankruptcy fraud case still on? If T continues to play dumb (not hard) about knowledge of their finances, is there any chance she could have her debts discharged and not face any criminal charge? If so, I think she will divorce him in two seconds.
Hey your Honor, just give JoDice some wine and he’ll sing like a canary. Heck, he might even do a somersault and chip another tooth! That will be great. Then the tooth fairy will bring some cash to those he owes. You’re welcome.
Oh this joe g. reminds me of barney rubble . . . He may even be just as unintelligent
WHOA just a minute Year!! Why you hatin’ on Barney Rubble??? He is a GREAT actor!!! (With apologies to “Night Shift.”)
We are talking about the same barney rubble aren’t we? From the flintstones. The cartoon. He’s not real.
Yea: Can’t find a clip, so this’ll have to do (scroll down to quotes):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084412/
LOL i do not even know what you are talking about, I apologize
Here are clips from a law practice website written by an attorney on their case:
My wonderful wife likes to watch the Real Housewives Series on Bravo, especially the Real Housewives of New Jersey series……. Last year in October 2009, one of the reality shows main characters Teresa & Joe Giudice filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy while the show was filming. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a “straight bankruptcy” or a liquidation bankruptcy where the trustee or court appointed officer liquidates any non-exempt assets for the benefit of creditors (Chapter 7).
A Chapter 7 like any bankruptcy is filed under the penalty of perjury and perjury is a very serious crime just ask Bill Clinton and Scooter Libby both were convicted of it. According to this article, the Giudice’s allegedly hid assets from the trustee in order to keep them from their creditors. In addition, it appears that from public records and news reports one of their creditors and their case trustee are objecting to their discharge. In addition, it appears from those public records and news reports that several adversary complaints have been filed in the bankruptcy against the Giudice’s alleging fraud.
Just recently, it appears that the United States Department of Justice Office of the United States Trustee filed a 19 page objection to the Debtor’s discharge alleging that the Debtor failed to list several assets on the initial petition including any bank accounts held by either debtor, several vehicles, the Debtor’s wife’s interest in her book “Skinny Italian” a New York Times best seller, several business interests that Joe Giudice derives income from and has an interest in which included two parcels of land, as well as other assets. Despite the Debtors making several amendments to their petition the Debtors are alleged to have still failed to list assets.
This article, provides a link to the actual adversary complaint by the United States Trustee. It appears from reading the complaint that the trustee conducted the 341 meeting and was “tipped off” about the fraud so he conducted a 2004 examination (a deposition and request for bank records and other documents) where the Debtors were asked about several of the “discrepancies” between their petition and reality. What is rather apparent for anyone who watches the reality series that the Debtors had assets prior to the filing and it was just a matter of time before the Trustee was going to inquire further into any assets.
Mrs. Giudice is also alleged to have not listed her interest in her best selling cookbook even after the amendments, or her website that sells various items and produces significant income which she is the sole member. According to the complaint, the Debtors “tax returns” submitted to the case trustee were never even filed with the IRS for 2006, 2007, and 2008 which is required and can result in dismissal of the bankruptcy case. Further, the complaint alleges that upon examination of Mrs. Giudice’s bank records significant deposits of over $100K were allegedly placed in her personal account prior to the filing and over $192K was allegedly deposited into her personal account after the filing.
Even more troubling it is alleged that the contract for the publishing of her book “Skinny Italian” was dated approximately one week prior to the petition date and was signed right after the filing on November 18, 2009. It is apparent from news reports that the trustee in the case believed that the book and the royalties derived from the book were property of the estate and he filed an objection to the Debtor’s discharge on that basis among others.
As a Chicago Bankruptcy Attorney it is rather clear that the Giudices have a lot of unresolved issues and problems with their bankruptcy filing. It is this attorneys opinion that these Debtor’s will get criminally charged for their omissions which could result in several felonies. They also will likely not receive their discharge. What is rather clear is that if the Giudices go to trial on the adversaries then it will be a major public spectacle with the media reporting it all.
I cannot state how important it is for a Debtor to list all assets and liabilities in a bankruptcy. In the rare instance that a client fails to list an asset then the trustee would likely go after said asset, and could possibly object to the persons discharge, unless it is an innocent omission by the Debtor. Bankruptcy fraud is a serious criminal act and it is a felony, a person can spend up to five years in jail and pay a $250,000 fine. If a person commits bankruptcy fraud they are almost certain to lose their discharge on all of their debts just as the Giudice’s are likely to lose theirs.
It is imperative that the Debtor tell the truth and the whole truth when filing bankruptcy. Our office will rarely see a Debtor who wants to lie to the court, and even if the occasional client who walks into our door wants to lie they would never be so brazen to show off assets on TV, spend a ton of money on TV prior to the filing, or show off assets to their attorneys and then fail to list them on their schedules. Even if they did this my opinion is that we have a duty to list any assets we learn about whether or not the client wants to list them or not. Further, if the client insists on not telling the truth we will of course not touch the case and will not file the petition, and we will of course send the potential client out the door. What is clear is that the FBI investigates bankruptcy fraud and the Department of Justice will and does prosecute bankruptcy fraud in our district and others.
It is this authors opinion from experience that about 99.9% of our bankruptcy client are the “honest but unfortunate debtor who deserve a fresh start” and warrant the discharge issued by the court. It is really sad that these numbskulls may leave the impression that a lot of debtors are doing something wrong by filing bankruptcy which is an unfair and unwarranted assumption. The vast majority of Debtors are honest forthright with their assets and liabilities.
It is this authors opinion that the Office of the United States Trustee is going to pursue criminal charges in the Giudice’s bankruptcy filing due to the fraud and “celebrity” status just as the DOJ did in the Martha Stewart insider trading case. There is a significant deterrence factor when the person is a public figure such as the Giudices and to give them a very stiff sentence if they are convicted and to make an example out of them to deter others from doing the same. This story is certainly a lesson in what you should not do when you file a bankruptcy!
Marc Wagman
Wow!
theyre so busted.