#RHOA’s Apollo Nida, Husband of Attorney & Reality Star Phaedra Parks, Face Up to 20 Years for Bank Fraud & Identity Theft

Over the weekend, reality show fans were hit with a bombshell. The husband of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-star, Phaedra Parks, was arrested and charged for bank fraud and identity theft.

According to the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Apollo Nida was set free on a $25, 000 pretrial bond and is scheduled to return to court on February 12. Nida’s past criminal history involved racketeering, which ultimately landed him in prison from 2004 to 2009. He was initially given a 18-year sentence, but paroled in 2009 right before Phaedra joined the “Real Housewives” cast. Apparently, Apollo didn’t make his appearance on Bravo’s number one franchise a financially beneficial one. Instead, his 15-minutes of fame has included some old habits he just can’t seem to shake.

In reference to his latest set of charges, Gayla St. Julien spilled the tea about Apollo after she was arrested and questioned by the U.S. Secret Service. Authorities were tracking St. Julien’s activities for over and arrested her for opening fake bank accounts in her name. The heat must have been too much to bear. She soon implicated Apollo and labeled him as the mastermind of the whole operation. Gayla claimed that she got involved with Apollo’s organization in 2009 (after he’d been released from prison).

Apollo is suspected of creating shell companies that would steal people’s identity. Gayla’s job was to act as “the victim” and go open up bank account(s) under their name. They would then deposit stolen retirement checks of employees at major U.S. companies such as Delta Airlines. Treasury and other types of checks were deposited in these fake accounts as well.

Gayla opened up 40 bank accounts total. Federal authorities tallied the total deposit amount in all accounts were approximately $3 million.  Gayla turned informant and eventually secured a recorded confession from Apollo of his involvement.

Sadly, Apollo Nida is on parole from his previous conviction in 2004. If he is found guilty of bank fraud and identity theft, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

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