On August 14, Chrisley Knows Best reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley surrendered to authorities after a grand jury found the pair guilty of 12 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion, according to the U.S. Department of Justice .
U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak weighed in on the case.
“Todd and Julie Chrisley are charged not only with defrauding a number of banks… but also with allegedly cheating taxpayers by actively evading paying federal taxes on the money they earned. Celebrities face the same justice that everyone does.”
Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation have formally made charges on the federal level. As such, the alleged offenders can possibly suffer extreme consequences.
Still, the reality television couple “will have their day in court,” noted Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. He added a warning, saying that “anyone else considering this type of alleged activity should take notice.”
However, given that the federal indictment contains specific charges, Todd, 51 and Julie, 46 will continue to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. That burden is dependent upon government entities who must prove the charges are true beyond a reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, some of the actual charges Todd and Julie face today harken back to as early as 2007 and as recently as 2012. At that time, according to U.S. Attorney Pak, the Tennessee-based Chrisleys lived in suburban Atlanta.
The time frame for which the reality stars allegedly set out to commit bank fraud includes charges attempting to illegally obtain hefty loans amounting to “millions of dollars” through alleged deception.
In yet another set of circumstances, the Chrisleys have been charged with authorizing false information via made-up financials and fabricated bank statements in order to lease a new home in 2004.
Todd and Julie Chrisley also reportedly failed to file income tax returns and avoided paying federal income taxes for four consecutive years, starting in 2013. Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, has also been indicted on these tax-related offenses since he and his clients have been accused of ducking out on multiple attempts to collect by the IRS.
Regarding Tarantino’s part in the indictment, The Los Angeles Times reported on an attempt to get in contact with Todd and Julie’s 56-year-old accountant. At the time, Tarantino was allegedly with a client yet also had no comment on the indictment, as relayed by a third party who was answering phones in his office.
NBC Universal, who owns USA, the network for which Chrisley Knows Best , and its spinoff, Growing Up Chrisley, airs, had no comment when contacted by The Los Angeles Times . The original television show, starring Todd and Julie Chrisley, were made for seven seasons.
Before the indictment came down and before surrendering on August 12, Todd shared a public Instagram post warning that later in the week, he and Julie “will be named in a federal indictment charging us with tax evasion and a bunch of other financial crimes as well.”
The lengthy caption Todd Chrisley wrote on social media claimed that he and his wife, Julie, have “nothing to hide” and that they have “hard” proof they have “done nothing wrong.”