The Broke and the Beautiful: Giudice Edition

This week on The Broke and the Beautiful, “Real Housewives of New Hersey” stars Teresa and Joe Giudice pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. And a day after film financier David Bergstein lost a lawsuit, his former partner dropped an appeal of a similar suit.

“Real Housewives of New Jersey” stars Teresa and Joe Giudice were recently charged with fraud and later released on bond. And this week, they pleaded not guilty, the Associated Press reported. During the five-minute proceeding, which took place Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., the couple didn’t speak while their lawyers entered the pleas. Miles Feinstein, a lawyer for Joe Giudice, told the AP that the couple should “continue life as they’ve lived it” and that “they shouldn’t imprison themselves.” Among other charges, the Bravo reality-TV stars face counts of bankruptcy fraud and making false statements on loan applications. If convicted, the Giudices could spend time in prison or pay hefty fines. And Joe Giudice, who’s not a U.S. citizen, could be deported. (Mr. Miles noted that Mr. Giudice came to the U.S. when he was 2 and hadn’t previously been aware he wasn’t a U.S. citizen.)

Film financier David Bergstein isn’t having the best of luck despite having gotten new lawyers earlier this summer. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a judge recently dismissed Mr. Bergstein’s lawsuit against Aramid Entertainment Fund, which he claimed broke terms of a loan-dispute settlement from 2009. Mr. Bergstein was looking for $50 million in damages from Aramid and related parties, blaming them for the 2010 bankruptcy cases filed against five companies he ran. “The court finds that [Mr. Bergstein's] allegations are not based on pre-bankruptcy conduct [the 2009 waiver] but on the very act of filing the involuntary bankruptcy petition,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michelle Rosenblatt said, according to the Reporter. In addition to losing the lawsuit, Mr. Bergstein will also have to cover Aramid’s legal fees.

And that’s not all that’s been going on with Aramid. The Reporter also noted that a day after Mr. Bergstein lost his lawsuit, former Bergstein partner Ronald Tutor dropped an appeal in a suit involving his Library Asset Acquisition Co., which accused Aramid of violating the loan-dispute settlement. If Mr. Tutor had kept going with the appeal and lost, he would have had to spend more money and, like Mr. Bergstein, would have had to pay Aramid’s legal bills.

It looks like the U.S. isn’t the only country to host the bankruptcy cases of visual-effects companies. The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the bankruptcy case of CinePostproduction, an effects company based in Munich. The company, a subsidiary of CineMedia, is one of Germany’s biggest postproduction firms and has done work on movies including “Measuring the World” and the upcoming movie “The Physician.”

Earlier in the year, ex-Arkansas Razorbacks coach John L. Smith was accused of fraud and later made a deal to give back some money he got or gave away before he entered bankruptcy. Now, according to Arkansas Business, Mr. Smith is closer to another settlement. If a bankruptcy judge approves the deal, Mr. Smith will be able to discharge $12 million he owes creditors who sought to stop the debts from getting discharged. He’ll also be able to discharge $8 million in debt that another creditor, John D. Rhodes III, was trying to block him from discharging when Mr. Rhodes and other business partners filed a lawsuit against him.

Write to Melanie Cohen at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @MelanieLisa.