REAL Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs has settled the $20,000 lawsuit against her former accountant, The U.S. Sun has exclusively learned.
The U.S. Sun broke the news that the TV personality was sued by Stephen B. Wetter, a certified public accountant who claimed Margaret and her husband, Joe Benigno, owed him money for helping them with their taxes.
Now, three months later, the lawsuit has been settled out of court after the RHONJ star sent Stephen $2,000 via Venmo.
According to court documents obtained by The U.S. Sun, a New Jersey judge signed an order dismissing the case on May 30.
"Defendant sent payment of $2,000.00 to plaintiff via Venmo.
"Plaintiff acknowledges receipt of same," both parties detailed in the settlement agreement.
An insider told The U.S. Sun: "Margaret is very pleased the case was dismissed after sending the plaintiff some money to move on peacefully.
"They're old family friends and she felt bad for him. There are no hard feelings.
"It would've cost her more money to pay an attorney."
The tri-state area-based accountant had demanded a total of $20,000 - $15,000 for services performed plus $5,000 in legal fees.
The parties were scheduled to appear at the Bergen County Courthouse on May 30 at 8.45 in the morning - the same date the RHONJ Reunion Part 1 aired.
The source continued: "It would've looked bad for Stephen if they went to trial.
"He could have gotten in a lot of trouble for faking an attorney's letter."
This is in reference to the letter that was included in Margaret and Joe's response to the complaint that was filed on April 10.
DETAILS OF THE LAWSUIT
The letter was sent to the Bravo stars in January, warning them of a forthcoming lawsuit if they did not pay up.
The Josephs stated that the letter was from Mr. Wetter and was "received to extort funds."
They stated in the exhibit: "There is no such [law] firm, no attorney name, letterhead, address, email."
Stephen had initially argued in his complaint, which was filed at the end of February, that he was "retained by the defendants to prepare financial statements and related tax returns" from 2008 until 2019, 2020.
"About three years ago, they stopped paying me for work performed.
"Eventually, I stopped working for them. They say they have no money, but I believe this is untrue."
Margaret, 56, and her husband, 67, then slammed his claims in their response, stating they had hired a new personal and business accountant in 2018 who took over their bookkeeping and taxes.
A source close to the Real Housewives star told The U.S. Sun at the time: "The lawsuit is completely absurd. It's very suspect that he's coming out of the woodwork now."
When reached for comment, a rep for Margaret said: "We're confident this is going to be dismissed soon as statements Stephen made are completely false."
PICKING HER BATTLES
It seems like the Macbeth Collection founder might be too busy with other drama in her life to deal with what she called an "absurd" lawsuit.
Bravo fans watched as Margaret went at it with co-star Danielle Cabral in the season finale that aired on May 16.
After the newbie shared the cheating rumor with Melissa Gorga - that she believes Margaret started with her ex-friend Laura Jensen - Margaret exploded on Danielle and called her a "sh*t starter."
It then led to everyone getting into a fight with each other, especially Melissa and Joe Gorga against Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas.
Then, in the three-part reunion fans will watch as Margaret, who is besties with Melissa, goes at it with Teresa.
In the preview, she is seen calling the RHONJ OG a "criminal" and alleging Luis investigated the cast.
"My child was called and threatened at work," Margaret confessed.
Teresa clapped back: "He would never do that."
The U.S. Sun previously spoke to Luis' "private investigator" Bo Dietl and he slammed claims he's digging for dirt.
Part 2 of the RHONJ Reunion airs on June 6 at 8pm ET on Bravo.
