Pals of Teresa Giudice are anxious after she and her husband of three years, Luis “Louie” Ruelas, were hit with over $3 million in tax liens, with The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum owing $303,889.20 and her beau owing nearly $2.6 million, according to court documents.
While she and Louie, 49, are only facing potential penalty charges, “a lot of her friends don’t trust him,” a source tells In Touch exclusively. “They fear that Teresa has dug another hole for herself, and with no prenup to protect her.”
“Teresa’s friends are wondering how she could have let this happen,” sources add of the Bravolebrity, 52, who spent 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of bankruptcy fraud and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud alongside her ex-husband, Joe Giudice.
The development came just three months after Louie was issued another lien for $163,523.94 in December 2024. Both of these debts and Teresa’s debt are still open cases in New Jersey, per records.
“Teresa doesn’t seem to be too worried, but her friends are,” the insiders note. “They’re wondering how she could have let this happen.”
Pals are concerned especially after Teresa and her ex-husband were both sentenced to prison in 2014 for engaging in a nearly decade-long scheme to defraud banks, the IRS and bankruptcy court of millions.
As In Touch previously reported, Joe, 52, was deported to his native Italy after three years behind bars and is now living in the Bahamas. He was released from prison in March 2019 after serving a 41-month sentence.
Teresa, for her part, served 11 months out of a 15-month sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud. She was released in December 2015.
While she and Luis won’t serve jail time — they’ll likely incur penalties for failing to pay their taxes on time — loved ones still have their concerns for their own reasons. “A lot of Teresa’s friends don’t like Louie. They don’t trust him or his creative financing,” says the source. “They fear that Teresa has dug another hole for herself, and with no prenup to protect her.”
Teresa and Louie have been married since August 2022 and it seems her friends fear she hasn’t learned from her past financial mistakes.
“I wish I could do everything differently,” the Standing Strong author previously told Us Weekly during an interview in October 2014 amid her legal troubles. “But then again, maybe not, because this is a life lesson that I need to learn and will learn, and will teach my children for the rest of my life, just as Judge Salas told me she expected me to do.”
During a court appearance, Teresa echoed those sentiments and vowed to make better decisions. “I speak as a wife, a mother, and a daughter,” Teresa said at the time, revealing that she was determined to set a positive example going forward. “Today I am blessed but I am also humbled. I hear you and what you are saying, and it is time for me to wake up.” She added, “I am more sorry than anyone will know.”
