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In the 2014 episode of USA Network’s “Chrisley Knows Best,” Todd and Julie Chrisley showed off their 30,000-square-foot home in a wealthy neighborhood north of Atlanta. The couple has come from a humble beginnings, Todd said, and has made a fortune in real estate.
“We probably spend $ 300,000 a year, sometimes more, just for clothes,” Todd said.
But prosecutors say the couple made most of their money through fraud – in the years leading up to their first season, the Chrisley family conspired to defraud banks with more than $ 30 million in loans, according to a 2019 criminal case against them. .
On Tuesday, a federal jury found the couple guilty of fraud and tax evasion. Julie was also found guilty of physical fraud and obstruction of justice. She and her husband faces up to 30 years in prison.
Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was also found guilty of several tax crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS.
“As today’s results show, when you lie, cheat and steal, justice is blind to your fame, fortune and position,” said Kerry Farley, a special agent with the FBI in Atlanta, in a press release.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Bruce Morris, one of Todd’s lawyers, said the couple was “disappointed with the verdict” and planned to appeal the decision. Tarantino’s lawyers did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment early Wednesday.
In their long-running reality series, the Chrisley family and their five children entertained viewers with their strange family dynamics and irritation. The show highlights their extravagant lifestyle, Todd’s strict work ethic and his own style of parenting.
The show is the most watched current original series on the USA Network, according to the parent company NBCUniversal, and is popular among demographic groups aged 18 to 49. He was selected for the 10th season last month, and the ninth season will start airing on June 23. The network did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
NBCUniversal also last month renewed for the fourth season Pinocock’s spin show featuring two of Chrisley’s children and launched a new dating show on E! host of Todd.
According to prosecutors, The Chrisley family has been defrauding financial institutions for about five years, beginning in about 2007. The couple has repeatedly presented false documents to banks, such as “bank statements listing inflated account balances, personal financial statements containing false information about available funds. false invoices and false audit documents, ”the court records said.
In 2007, Todd presented fake documents to Merrill Lynch, which showed that he had $ 4 million in the bank, even though the Chrisley family did not actually have an account at the time, according to court documents.
“As a result of false statements such as these, a number of banks have lent millions of dollars to conspirators, much of which Todd and Julie Chrisley used for personal gain,” the records added.
The couple uses the money to buy designer clothes, real estate and luxury cars to fund their travels, prosecutors said. They also used the loans to pay off existing debts, according to court records. The Chrisley family filed for bankruptcy in 2012, while collecting $ 20 million from fraudulent loans, prosecutors said.
Julie continued to produce produced documents during theirs bankruptcy proceedings. In 2014, she presented fake financial documents to a real estate agent so she could rent a house in Los Angeles, according to court records.
“The numbers were physically cut out of a document and then pasted or pasted on the account statement to make it appear that the account has sufficient funds to deposit,” the documents said.
The family was evicted from their home in LA for non-payment of rent, prosecutors said.
Todd and Julie, along with their accountant, began plotting to defraud the tax authorities after the family began making millions from their reality show, prosecutors said. Debting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the IRS for his taxes in 2009, Todd opened a corporate account in Julie’s name is called 7C’s Productions. Millions of dollars have been deposited in the account to protect Todd from having to pay the money he owes the government, according to court records.
“All along, Todd Chrisley ran the lending company behind the scenes and oversaw the company’s wallet,” prosecutors said.
The couple did not file taxes from 2013 to 2016, according to prosecutors. In 2015 and 2016, Tarantino filed tax returns, “omitting all information about the revenues and distributions of 7C’s Productions,” according to court documents, which suggests that the company he had not made a profit in those years. Tarantino was eventually convicted of filing false documents.
Tarantino and the Chrisley family will be convicted on October 6.
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