“The Real Housewives Of Atlanta” has seen its share of drama and scandal; as far as the reality franchise goes, it’s up there with New Jersey on the drama scale. But the stories usually revolve around the women who star on the shows, not their husbands. Not so this time, as Apollo Nida–who is married to Phaedra Parks–was arrested last week on federal fraud charges after authorities say he took part in a scheme that involves millions of dollars.

Nida is accused of setting up fake collection companies with LexisNexis, Equifax, and Mircrobilt databases in order to steal personal information from several people in order to obtain fraudulent auto loans. In 2009, before he married Parks, he was arrested for auto title fraud and served five years in federal prison.

Federal authorities made an arrest after a year-long investigation due to the capture of a woman who claimed to be Nida’s partner in the scheme and agreed to allow them to record her phone conversations with Nida for the bust. Gayla St. Julein says she did all the “leg work” for Nida but was paid very little in comparison to what he made in the scheme.

Nida’s laptop was seized in the arrest and officials say there are more than 1,000 pieces of evidence contained on it.

So far the couple has not commented on the arrest, but Parks has mentioned her husband’s previous arrest, saying, “Of course my husband did have a past. “Like I say on my show, ‘Every sinner has a past, every saint has a future.'”

Nida has been released on $25,000 bond but is due in court next month, and family law specialist Steven Mindel says the future looks pretty grim for the reality star.

“Any time that the federal government files criminal charges against you, you can expect they’re looking for jail time,” Mindel said.

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