Quid Pro Show:

A Compendium of Federal Fraud on Film

Most housewife crimes are relatively minor in scale and charge and happen off-camera. [Drunk driving, (Brandi Glanville, Sonja Morgan, Marysol Patton, Karen Huger, Gina Kirschenheiter). Trespassing (our beloved Tinsley). Various misdemeanor charges of assault and battery, (LuAnn, Kelly Bensimon, Kelly Dodd, Jaqueline Laurita’s daughter, Candiace and Monique). Shoplifting, (Kim Richards).]

But when serious, large scale federal crimes are committed by a housewife or househusband, considerable precedent exists for it taking place during filming.

The question is, why do these people agree to go on television when they are in the process of committing federal crimes?

Eugene Soltes, the author of Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White Collar Criminal, suggests the following: Because the harm to the victim being defrauded by the white collar criminal is usually distant or abstract, the white collar criminal does not internalize or even identify with the harm they cause.

I read this to mean that although the white collar criminals are in fact stealing, it is not the same type of visceral experience as personally mugging someone’s grandma for their wallet. White collar criminals can disassociate and feel good about themselves while they steal money from someone’s grandma in a telemarketing scheme, or settlement money from plane crash survivors. Add the cocktail of privilege, narcissism, competitiveness, and self-delusion held by many Real Housewives and it becomes easier to see how and why federal fraud on film seems to occur so frequently.

A Compendium of Federal Fraud on Film

Party Crashers

The first, and perhaps most absurd example of this is Michaele and Tareq Salahi, who must have known that lying to federal officers to get into the White House was some sort of federal crime.

On November 24, 2009, while filming for the Real Housewives of D.C. (the only Real Housewives city canceled after a single season) Michaele and Tareq Salahi allowed themselves to be filmed faking their way into a White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, where they met President Barack Obama. The Committee on Homeland Security subpoenaed the Salahis to testify in front of congress and the Salahis were investigated for violating 18 USC Section 1001, making a false statement to an agent or agency of the federal government in connection with a federal matter. While it seems that the Salahis did in fact meet the three requirements for prosecution under the statute (a materially false statement, knowingly made, regarding a matter within the federal government’s jurisdiction) the Salahis were never formally charged.

Prostitution Whore

Now, I know her arrest and federal charges occurred decades before filming, but I feel like I have to mention Danielle Staub aka Beverly Merril. A book written about Danielle/Beverly’s 1986 federal charges for conspiracy to commit extortion and cocaine possession in the Southern District of Florida was a massive storyline and precipitated the New Jersey table flip seen around the world. Danielle/Beverly went on the show knowing this book was out there.

Dana Wilkey appeared on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Seasons 1 and 3 as a guest, and as a friend of on Season 2, when she famously bragged about her $25,000 sunglasses. While filming for seasons 1-3 of Beverly Hills from 2010 to 2012, Dana was the President of Adwil Agency. In this clip, in response to Camille Grammar & Lisa Vanderpump’s uneasiness about Dana’s off-putting discussions of her own wealth, Dana talks about being the president of Adwil. Camille and Lisa Vanderpump are astute observers of human behavior. As Dana filmed for the show and bragged about her wealth, Dana was engaged in an organized scheme to defraud Blue Shield of California. Dana’s company made large payments to an employee of Blue Shield of California, Skylar Phoenix, in exchange for Phoenix assigning vendor contracts to Adwil. Dana was arrested on June 18, 2014 and indicted with "conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aiding and abetting, and making false statements to government agents. Dana eventually pled to Misprision of a Felony (knowing a crime was committed but not reporting it) and was sentenced to 5 years probation, and has to pay $1,047,221.00 in restitution.

Dana was lucky to not be charged during filming. Every other cast member since Dana charged with federal conspiracy and wire fraud has been indicted while filming.

Jersey Fraud

July 29, 2013 - While not the first to commit a federal crime during filming, Teresa Gudice, is the first to actually get charged with a federal crime and go to jail while filming Real Housewives. Teresa and Joe were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud in a 39-count indictment. We all watched Teresa and Joe go to prison and the aftermath, so I’m going to assume you’re all familiar with the details.

Atlanta Fraud

January 25, 2014 - As we all awaited the outcome of the Teresa’s case, Apollo Nida, the Atlanta househusband of Phaedra Parks, was arrested for conspiring to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud in a complex scheme spanning over four years, harming over 50 victims, and causing over $2.3 million in losses. Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida first appeared on the Real Housewives of Atlanta in Season 3, which aired in 2010, which means that Apollo was committing these crimes the entire time he filmed for the show.

Settlement Embezzlement

December, 2020 - Tom and Erika Giradi have been convicted by a jury of real housewife fans, but currently face no criminal federal charges by actual government authorities. Like Teresa’s case we are familiar with this ongoing monstrosity, and we covered it on our podcast, so I’m not going to go into more detail here, except to mention that Tom is accused of stealing money from his clients not just during filming for the show but for literally decades.

Shah Squad Fraud

And now, finally, #ShahSquadFraud on March 31, 2021 with Jen facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a housewife favorite federal crime. We explain the charges in Episode 6.