Reality TV Stars Convicted of Fraud, Tax Evasion Following IRS-CI Investigation
A federal jury has found Todd and Julie Chrisley guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks following a three-week trial. The Chrisleys defrauded the banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. The Chrisleys were also found guilty of tax evasion. Julie Chrisley was independently found guilty of wire fraud and obstruction of justice. The jury also convicted the Chrisley’s accountant of various tax crimes, including conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and filing two false corporate tax returns on behalf of the Chrisley’s company.
The fraud against the community banks occurred before the Chrisleys became reality TV stars. According to court documents, the Chrisleys, with the help of their former business partner, submitted false bank statements, audit reports, and personal financial statements to banks to obtain the millions of dollars in fraudulent loans.
The Chrisleys spent the funds on luxury items before filing for bankruptcy and walking away from more than $20 million in fraudulently obtained loans.
During Todd Chrisley’s 2014 bankruptcy proceedings, evidence shows that Julie Chrisley manufactured financial documents and lied to real estate agents to obtain a luxury rental house in Los Angeles, California. The Chrisleys did not pay rent at this home and the owner filed an eviction lawsuit.
Around this time, the Chrisleys became reality TV stars. It was while earning millions from this program that the Chrisleys began defrauding the IRS with the assistance of their accountant, Peter Tarantino.
While earning income from the TV series and various entertainment ventures, the Chrisleys regularly traded bank accounts between Chrisley names to evade taxes. For example, the IRS release explains, “One day after the IRS requested information about bank accounts in Julie Chrisley's name, the Chrisleys transferred ownership of the corporate bank account to Todd Chrisley's mother in an effort to further hide his income from the IRS.”
The IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) investigated the case for several years. After learning of a grand jury investigation into their finances, Julie Chrisley submitted a fraudulent document to the grand jury to make it appear that the Chrisleys had not lied to the bank when they transferred ownership of their company's bank account to Todd Chrisley's mother.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Krepp and Annalise K. Peters are prosecuting the case. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.