Bankruptcy, tax evasion and owing six figures in court-ordered restitution wasn’t going to stop “Juicy Joe” Giudice from giving his wife, Teresa, the perfect little homecoming gift Wednesday.
That would be the plush new Lexus SUV that sat outside the couple’s garish Jersey mansion as she returned from a 12-month stint in federal prison for financial fraud and conspiracy — proving crime really does pay for these “Real Housewives of New Jersey” crooks.
The shiny black Lexus SUV, which has a starting price of $50,000, was sitting in the Giudices’ circular driveway in Towaco as Teresa arrived home, and as the Bravo cameras rolled, at the crack of dawn.
The early Christmas present was decked out with a giant red bow.
Teresa, 43, returned to her mansion, hubby and four daughters after leaving a federal lockup in Danbury, Conn. — the same facility featured in the Netflix hit “Orange Is the New Black.”
The Giudices have so far paid more than half of the $414,588 they owe the feds in court-ordered restitution for conspiracy and fraud, but still have a substantial amount yet to pay off, one source familiar with the case told The Post.
The expensive new SUV will certainly raise the eyebrows of Jersey probation officials and maybe investigators with the US Attorney’s Office, all of whom will want to know who owns it and who paid for it, another source said.
The Giudices are on a restitution payment schedule that’s “meant to only leave the defendants with money for food, shelter and other necessities,” the source stressed.
Still, the reality power couple may well be able to afford a fancy new ride, given the financial irons they appear to have in the fire. That’s in addition to whatever Bravo is cooking up, and Teresa’s upcoming memoir, “Turning the Tables: From Housewife to Inmate and Back Again.”
There will be still more jailhouse drama to televise by March, when “Juicy Joe” takes his turn serving 41 months in prison, his own sentence in the fraud.
Both Giudices admitted last year to hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in income and assets, lying to get loans and mortgages, and filing bogus bankruptcy documents. “Juicy Joe” additionally ’fessed up to not filing tax returns on nearly a million dollars in income.