On Thursday, Oct. 9, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Sociology Wendy Osefo was arrested in Maryland on 16 counts of fraud. Osefo, who was arrested with her husband, is also a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Potomac.”
Osefo, who joined the University in Fall 2024, is currently affiliated with the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. She was teaching a class this semester, “The Sociology of Reality TV: Race, Colorism, and Xenophobia” (SOC285), and was on campus to teach that class on Wednesday, Oct. 8—the day before her arrest.
A Maryland grand jury indicted Osefo on seven counts of felony insurance fraud, eight counts of misdemeanor conspiracy insurance fraud, and one misdemeanor count of false statement to an officer. She was released on a $50,000 bond the day after her arrest, according to public Maryland judiciary case records.
The charges stemmed from a purported home burglary the Osefos reported to police on April 7, 2024. The Osefos claimed roughly half a million dollars in insurance connected to the incident, which was widely reported at the time.
But then the news broke: The robbery had been rigged and the items had resurfaced. On April 27, 2024, Osefo posted on Instagram a photo of a gold diamond anniversary ring, reportedly stolen. A search and seizure warrant of the Osefos’ home, executed along with their arrest, turned up at least 15 items they had previously claimed stolen. Additionally, police found that roughly $20,000 worth of items (that the Osefos had reported stolen) had actually been returned to stores far earlier, including a $1,450 Dior shirt returned in 2023 and a $949 Gucci wallet returned in 2018.
The indictment alleged that Osefo’s husband had emailed her, requesting that she add “high-value items” to their insurance inventory list to maximize their payout.
Wendy Osefo did not respond to a request for comment by The Argus on her arrest and charges.
Osefo is best known as a main cast member of “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” a role she has held for five seasons. Just a week ago, she and her husband discussed their business success in an episode of the show.
“I’m really proud of Eddie,” Wendy Osefo said on the Oct. 5 episode, referring to her husband and his cannabis brand, Happy Eddie. “Happy Eddie is—you know—financially successful. Cha-ching!”
However, the court document detailing their indictment also stated that the Osefos were in “substantial debt.”
An email from Albritton Center director Khalilah Brown-Dean, sent to students in Osefo’s class, explained that Associate Professor of Sociology Courtney Patterson-Faye would take over teaching the class for the remainder of the semester. Neither the University nor Brown-Dean responded to a request by The Argus for comment on Osefo’s arrest.
Students in Osefo’s class were surprised at the news of her arrest.
“I was literally writing her an email that morning I found out, asking her about an assignment that was supposed to be due this week,” Barry Zheng ’29 said. “I just finished grabbing lunch at Usdan, and I ran into one of my classmates, and he was just like, “Yo, did you see the news?” and I was like, ‘What news?’ and he said our professor got arrested. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ because I just met her last week. And then he showed me an Instagram post saying she and her husband got arrested for fraud. I couldn’t believe it.”
The class’s teaching assistant (TA), Mariah Wilson ’26, expressed similar thoughts.
“It was a shock. Having taken her class last fall, I didn’t expect it,” Wilson said. “I hope she’s well, and we’ll find out more once more news comes out.
Zheng reflected on Osefo’s classroom style.
“I just felt like she was pretty cool,” Zheng said. “She would crack jokes and stuff.”
Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.
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