Money

The friend Simon Cowell betrayed wants out of his marriage STAT ... because he thinks his wife is a starf**ker who doesn't need any money from him because she'll get a ton of cash from Simon ... sources close to the couple tell TMZ.

Our sources say Andrew Silverman is gunning for primary custody of their 7-year-old son because Lauren is deficient as a parent ... often disappearing for long periods of time to hang with celebs. We're told Andrew found out of her affair with Simon this Spring, and was shocked when he saw a pic on TMZ Friday ... showing Simon and Lauren kissing in August, 2012, on a boat HE chartered.

We're told there is a prenup and the money issues in the divorce are "minor." The real issue is custody. As one source said, aside from the fact that Andrew doesn't think Lauren is a very good parent, there's an element of revenge for being utterly humiliated.

As Lindsay Lohan doeseth so shall her followers ... LiLo's BFF / hotel magnate Vikram Chatwal is doing time in court-ordered rehab ... just like his red-headed Goddess before him.

TMZ broke the story ... Vikram was arrested back in April for boarding a plane with a slew of drugs: cocaine, weed, heroin and various RX pills. Vikram originally pled not guilty, but then cut a deal with prosecutors,

Vikram was sentenced to 12 months of in-patient rehab. He also agreed to random drug testing.

Vikram's currently at Silver Hill hospital in New Haven, CT. If he manages to complete his stint and keep his nose clean he can avoid jail altogether.

THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: If you're wondering who was driving the obnoxious yellow Rolls Royce around L.A. Thursday, it was the douche wearing yellow loafers to match ... Scott Disick.

Teresa and Joe Giudice have a serious heavy hitter in their corner -- Big Ang from "Mob Wives" -- who tells TMZ she's convinced the alleged bank scammers are COMPLETELY INNOCENT.

"I feel like she's innocent and so is he," says Ang -- who knows a little something about the criminal justice system.

In fact, Ang is not only connected to the Genovese crime family -- but was once arrested in an undercover cocaine sting and pled guilty to an intent to distribute charge.

So, given her background, Ang believes she's the perfect person to give the Giudices some advice on how to handle their situation.

"Bad Girls Club" star Natalie Nunn tells TMZ ... she's ready to and willing to raise a big legal stink to shut down a person trying to shop naked pics of the reality star to various media outlets.

That's right ... Natalie tells us the pics are legit ... but they were supposed to be private.

TMZ has learned ... the person shopping the photos is claiming to be a disgruntled ex-assistant who's more interested in embarrassing Natalie than scoring a huge payday.

We spoke with Nunn who tells us, "Those photos DO NOT belong to him and I will take legal action against anyone who releases them!"

"Honestly those images are mine and I just don't want to have to get my lawyers involved."

Anthony Weiner's phone sex partner Sydney Leathers targeted men on the Internet for more than 3 years -- actively recruiting (and juggling) multiple sugar daddies who paid up to $4,000 a pop to connect with her ... TMZ has learned.

We found proof of Sydney's man-hunting history on a hookup site called SeekingArrangement.com ... where she described herself as a 22-year-old "naughty but nice" student.

Best of all ... she proudly announced she's "looking for a discreet, mutually beneficial relationship" ... aka a "sugar daddy."

Sources close to Sydney tell TMZ she's been trolling these kinds of sites since she was 19, and suckers guys would give her anywhere from $200 to $4k to chat, Skype, share pics or meet for dinner.

We're told Sydney claims she never had more than three at once, and never took money for sex. Translation: she never quite went pro.

She told Howard Stern she never got money from Weiner, but admitted she has a knack for finding victims dates.

Sydney's profile lists her body type as "slim."

It was created a year ago ... and is no longer active.

While Teresa Giudice faces time behind bars for alleged bankruptcy fraud ... another 'Real Housewife' is making sure she doesn't suffer a similar fate ... by coughing up $35,000.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Danielle Staub filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in June 2012, claiming she was knee deep in debt ... approx. $500,000 to $1,000,000.

As part of the bankruptcy process Danielle had to disclose all her assets ... that way when creditors came to clean her out they'd know how much loot is available.

FYI -- this is the part where some people get in trouble because they try to hide cash and valuables ... hoping Uncle Sam and creditors won't notice.

According to legal docs, filed last month, Danielle was accused of doing just that. Rather than keep up the charade, DS agreed to fork over $35k to her creditors to help settle her debts ... and avoid any nasty consequences.

If she didn't settle ... Danielle might be in a similar boat to co-stars Teresa and Joe Giudice -- who are being federally indicted on 39 counts of fraud (including hiding assets during bankruptcy). They face 30 years in prison.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice doesn't look fazed by the possibility of a massive looming prison sentence -- in fact, she was all smiles with her daughter on Tuesday ... and she looked damn good too.

As we reported, Giudice and her husband Joe each face up to 30 years in the big house for bank fraud, tax evasion, and more -- after officials say the couple defrauded the IRS and multiple banks from 2001-2008.

The couple surrendered to authorities just hours ago, and have each been released on $500,000 bond. They're due back in court August 14.

Teresa and Joe Giudice are each free on $500k bond ... after surrendering to federal authorities in their fraud case.

As part of the terms of their bail, both Teresa and Joe had to surrender their passports and are restricted to New York and New Jersey.

Joe, who is not a U.S. citizen, is subject to drug testing. Teresa will not have to subject herself to drug testing.

The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" couple is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in New Jersey on August 14.

As we previously reported, both Joe and Teresa are facing 30 years in prison after being hit with 39 counts of fraud.

With media surrounding the building, Teresa and Joe Giudice just strolled into a federal courthouse in New Jersey to deal with 39 counts of fraud ... counts that could land them in prison for 30 years.

The "Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars were locked hand-in-hand as they marched into the courtroom together ... Joe in a suit and tie and Teresa sporting a pantsuit.

The two are accused of greatly exaggerating their income while applying for loans back before RHONJ premiered in 2009.

They're also accused of submitting bogus mortgage and loan applications from 2001 to 2008.

The couple is currently waiting for their case to be called.

Stay tuned.

'Real Housewife' NeNe Leakes' ridiculous wedding cost her and absurd $1.8 million -- and then spawned a lawsuit that could cost her north of $2.5 million!

If only she'd taken Harvey's advice.

"Real Housewives of New Jersey" stars Teresa Giudice and her husband Joe have just been slapped with a laundry list of criminal charges -- ranging from bank fraud to tax evasion -- and now, they both face more than 50 years in prison if convicted.

U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman just announced the 39-count indictment, claiming Teresa and her hubby massively defrauded the IRS as well as several banks between 2001-2008.

According to the U.S. Attorney, the Giudices conspired to illegally obtain mortgages and other loans from multiple banks by intentionally overestimating their incomes in order to get more money.

The Giudices also allegedly withheld vital information about their net worth from a U.S. bankruptcy trustee after filing for Chapter 7 in 2009 -- including Teresa's true income from the reality show.

As for tax evasion, Joe is accused of failing to file income tax returns for the years 2004-2008, during which he allegedly earned $1 million.

All told, the Giudices were hit with 39 charges -- including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which carries a max prison sentence of 20 years, and bank fraud, which carries a max of 30 years. The remaining charges carry the possibility of even more prison time.

Neither Teresa nor Joe has been arrested, but they're both due in court Tuesday morning in Jersey.

Former "E.R." star Parminder Nagra just scored a huge victory over her ex-husband ... TMZ has learned she won't have to give up a dime of her "E.R." loot.

We broke the story ... Parminder's ex James Stenson sued her last year, claiming she was hiding her acting money from gigs like "E.R.", "Alcatraz", and "Psych" ... to prevent him getting any of it.

Now they've hammered out a settlement, and it's clear from the docs ... the real winner's name rhymes with Tinder.

Here's what Parminder gets: ALL her income, residuals and royalties from her acting gigs including "E.R" -- which, of course, brings in beaucoup syndication dollars.

But there's more ... she also gets their Cali home (worth over $700k), their UK home ($1.5 million), and profits from the sale of a rental property. PLUS she gets 3 of the couple's 4 cars.

Here's what James gets: $450k from the rental home sale, $1,226/month in child support for their 4-year-old kid, and his photography biz.

Oh, and a Mazda CX9.

Zoom zoom.

Sinbad's financial nightmare is officially OVER -- but the comic doesn't wanna talk about money problems anymore ... he wants to talk about FACEBOOK RAAAAGEEE!!!

Sinbad -- who declared bankruptcy earlier this year -- was at LAX Friday when we asked him about having a clean slate after racking up more than $10 MILLION in debt.

But the "Necessary Roughness" star told us, "I'm past financial, I'm on to murder."

"I killed some folks on Facebook," Sinbad said ... "So I'm working with that. Anger issues."

We're guessing he was being metaphorical ... and probably means he "killed" people with insults

Then again, we could be wrong ... and if that's the case, dude, you should probably seek some advice from Ron Burgundy ...

Toni Braxton may still have a song in her heart after filing for bankruptcy, but she just lost more than 2 dozen tunes that made her famous -- because some dude bought them right out from under her ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ broke the story ... Braxton struck a deal in her bankruptcy case, in which she settled with her various debtors. Part of the deal -- Toni could buy back 27 songs from her music catalog for $20K -- with one BIG string attached ... she could be outbid.

Enter a guy named Ross M. Klein, who doubled Toni's price and nabbed the tunes.

Among the 27 are a few hits, including "You're Making Me High," "How Many Ways," and "Always."

Perhaps her biggest hit ... "Un-Break My Heart" is not among the 27 -- but probably only because Dianne Warren wrote it ... not Toni.

NeNe Leakes says the "celebrity wedding planner" suing her for MILLIONS in alleged unpaid wedding bills is straight up lying in a desperate attempt to grab 15 min of fame ... and she owes her squat.

TMZ broke the story ... Tiffany Cook filed a lawsuit in GA, claiming she planned NeNe's June wedding (which will be featured on Bravo) -- but claims the "Real Housewives" star never foot the massive bill. Tiff's asking for more than $2.5 MILLION!!!!!

We caught up to NeNe Saturday night in Beverly Hills to ask her about the nuptial-gate and she GOES OFF saying she NEVER hired the fame-hungry planner. She adds, "I don't owe her a f***ing dime."