LEGAL MATTERS: A Legal Lesson From A Real Housewife of New Jersey

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

John T. Longo, GoLocalProv Legal Contributor

 

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Sometimes a little white lie isn't a big deal...except when you've lied to the government.

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” – Sir Walter Scott 

Teresa Giudice’s web of lies appears to be unraveling. According to the recent indictment of the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, she and her husband spun a web of lies around the fiction that they were rich. Keeping up that lie apparently led them to lie about their jobs, file fraudulent loan applications and eventually perjure themselves in Bankruptcy Court.

If you want to lie about your mother-in-law’s cooking, that’s up to you. But if you are dealing with anyone from the government, keep this advice in mind:

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If you are tempted to lie, just keep your mouth shut.

According to the indictment, Teresa’s rich façade collapsed in 2009–just as her RHONJ star was rising–when she had to file for bankruptcy protection. She apparently feared her creditors would get some of her future RHONJ income so she lied about it on her bankruptcy paperwork. The official handling her bankruptcy case heard about her stardom, asked about her future income, and she allegedly lied to him about it. If she had just kept her mouth shut she probably would not have gotten everything she wanted out of the bankruptcy but the paperwork error could have been fixed. Instead, her big mouthed lies led to Count 19 of her indictment.

Don’t try to lie your way out of a lie.

The bankruptcy official in Teresa’s case also realized she had not listed substantial assets on her bankruptcy petition, including her T.G. Fabulicious business. That was a major bankruptcy no-no but one that might have been explained as an innocent mistake. Instead, having been caught lying, the indictment says Teresa tried to cover up the first lie by falsely claiming she started the business after she filed bankruptcy. That second lie turned a survivable legal misstep into Count 24 of her indictment.

Getting caught lying is much worse than just being embarrassed.

I don’t mean to pick on Teresa Giudice; there are liars in our midst we can learn from. For example, in the 1990’s a Rhode Island Traffic Court judge got into financial trouble and had to file bankruptcy. He was apparently embarrassed to admit he had lost tens of thousands of dollars gambling at Foxwoods so he denied the losses on his bankruptcy petition. Someone dropped a dime on him. The FBI got involved. It did not end well for him. Trying to avoid the embarrassment of being exposed as a person with a gambling problem, he suffered the even greater humiliation of becoming a convict. (He also lost his law license.)

If you want to learn more about what Teresa is alleged to have done you can read the actual indictment here.

 

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John Longo is a consumer rights attorney practicing law in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He represents consumers who have disputes with businesses, employees cheated out of their wages or overtime, car buyers stuck with Lemons, and people in need of bankruptcy protection. He is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Rhode Island Association for Justice.

 

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