The Real Exploits of Real Husbands of Real Housewives

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Their wives and girlfriends may bring in the big bucks on Bravo’s hit television franchise, but the present and former husbands of reality TV’s most infamous series are no strangers to their own drama.

Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice, married to Teresa Giudice, New Jersey

The Giudices didn’t pay taxes from 2004 to 2008, but that didn’t stop them from obtaining $4 million in mortgages—they just showed the banks fake returns, according to prosecutors. Then they spent the money, filed for bankruptcy, and lied about their income from Bravo. Joe pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Teresa served about a year. Joe is waiting to hear if he’ll be deported because of the felony conviction: Although he’s been in the U.S. since he was a baby, he never obtained citizenship.

“I think that in Jersey we say ‘going away’ instead of ‘going to prison’ because it’s old school. It’s a matter of pride in trying to protect your family. It’s a Jersey thing,” says Kathy Wakile, Teresa’s cousin.

Mauricio Umansky, married to Kyle Richards, Beverly Hills

The founder and chief executive officer of a luxury real estate brokerage, Umansky was sued in March by a company that owns an ultraluxury seaside mansion. He allegedly arranged for an associate to buy it below market for $33 million. The buyer then flipped it for $70 million a year later—and allegedly shared the profits with Umansky. The really shady part? The mansion was owned by a politician from Equatorial Guinea, and he’d agreed to use the sale to benefit his poor country as part of a settlement with the U.S. Umansky denied the allegations in court and said the mansion initially sold for a low price because it was run-down.

Frank Catania, ex-husband of Dolores Catania, New Jersey

Catania was disbarred in 2017 for misappropriation of $25,000 of client and escrow funds and failed to mention it to his ex-wife, Dolores, who learned the news when executive producer Andy Cohen brought it up on a reunion episode. Catania claims a client of his nicknamed “Bones” gave him permission to borrow funds; the argument was found to be unpersuasive in court.

“There’s like an unwritten law in Italian culture where you don’t ask someone their personal business,” Dolores once said in a confessional on the show. “You don’t address the pink elephant in the room. If I choose to share it, that’s my choice.”

Paul Kemsley, married to Dorit Kemsley, Beverly Hills

“Kemsley is a bankrupt who does not live like one,” a New York judge wrote in a ruling against him. Kemsley, an English property developer, has been sued at least three times in the last seven years over various gambling debts and allegedly failing to pay a business partner in his wife Dorit’s swimwear line, Beverly Beach. Kemsley denied the bathing suit-related allegations in court, and the parties are in mediation. He told the New York Post in May after settling one gambling-debt lawsuit and winning another: “I now live an entirely different happy, peaceful life.” Kemsley filed for bankruptcy in 2012 after the collapse of his empire, long before he appeared on Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where he notably presented his wife with a rose-gold Bentley for her 40th birthday.

Tom Girardi, married to Erika Girardi, Beverly Hills

Lawyer Thomas Girardi, who rose to fame after his case against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. inspired the movie Erin Brockovich, was sued in May for not paying back a $5.1 million loan to his firm. The lender claimed that he redirected the money to himself and his wife to “sustain their lavish lifestyle and maintain their glamorous image.” In a statement to celebrity news site the Blast, Girardi disputed the allegations, saying, “I have not taken one penny from the law firm in the past three years.” Another lender sued in January, claiming Girardi owed $15 million. “Listen, we’re in the lawsuit business, baby. We sue and get sued,” his wife said about that case to Us Weekly.

Apollo Nida, ex-husband of Phaedra Parks, Atlanta

Nida, who divorced Phaedra Parks in 2017, appeared to run a real business in a suburban office park. But when Nida’s employee got caught with fake IDs, she told Secret Service agents that she was actually Nida’s “right-hand bitch” in an identity theft ring that allegedly took in $2.3 million. Nida blamed “the lifestyle that TV creates” for his scamming, saying at his 2014 sentencing hearing that he “just got sucked in” because of the pressure to keep up. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison, due to be released in October.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Silvia Killingsworth at skillingswo2@bloomberg.net

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