The Broke and the Beautiful: Guilty Edition

This week on The Broke and the Beautiful, Teresa and Joe Giudice plead guilty to fraud, and Armand Assante wants to save his house from auction. Also, Mel Gibson’s ex filed a debt-payment plan.

Teresa Giudice and her husband Giuseppe “Joe” Giudice exit the court in Newark, N.J., on March 4.

Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Teresa Giudice said bankruptcy made her and husband Joe stronger in 2012. In 2013, the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars were charged with multiple counts of fraud, to which they pleaded not guilty. But now they have changed course and pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud, as well as mail and wire fraud conspiracy, Reuters reported. They face different amounts of prison time—Teresa Giudice could get up to 27 months in prison, while Joe Giudice could get close to four years. That’s not all, though. Because he’s an Italian citizen. Joe Giudice may also face deportation. “I took responsibility for a series of mistakes I made several years ago,” Teresa Giudice said in a statement. “I am heartbroken that this is affecting my family, especially my four young daughters.”

Armand Assante in October 2010

Reuters

Actor Armand Assante filed for bankruptcy in 2011 as a victim of alleged mortgage fraud; the next year, he sought to sell 100 acres of his property in Hamptonburgh, N.Y. Now, the actor is trying to save his horse farm. According to the New York Post, Mr. Assante is trying to halt a May auction of the property, claiming mortgage servicer Eastern Savings Bank fraudulently gave him a high interest rate and that it planned to foreclose on the property all along. “If someone such as I can be victimized by bank fraud and predatory lending, it can and it has happened to all of us,” Mr. Assante said in a press release. “Through God’s grace, and the courage of those in the state and federal courts to work against injustice, I will be vindicated.” A representative of Eastern Savings Bank couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

Oksana Grigorieva in April 2010

Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press

Mel Gibson’s ex Oksana Grigorieva is in Chapter 13 protection and has a couple hundred thousand dollars in debt. Now, she’s asking the San Fernando, Calif., bankruptcy court to clear her remaining debts after she makes monthly payments of $372 for five years, TMZ reported. Ms. Grigorieva filed for bankruptcy in January with debts of $438,000 and assets of less than $49,000. While some of that debt is owed to credit-card companies, other debt stems from her child-custody battle with Mr. Gibson, with whom she split up in 2010.

Write to Melanie Cohen at melanie.cohen@wsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MelanieLisa.

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