Teresa Giudice -- I Got a Bum Rap ... I'm Not Paying for Gia's Music Videos

Teresa Guidice may be a criminal, but she's not as bad as people are making her out to be in the restitution department.

There has been a torrent of criticism that Teresa funded her daughter's 2 music videos when she still owes the government hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution and she stiffed her creditors by declaring bankruptcy.

But we've learned ... Teresa didn't ante up a red cent for the 3KT videos. Gia Guidice's manager, Xhist Entertainment, tells TMZ the videos were funded by the management company and private investors ... not Teresa or Joe.

There are reports Teresa blew 5 figures on the videos. We're told they were way cheaper -- $5K-8K a pop.

She's bad, but not that bad.