Todd Chrisley's Tax Evasion Conviction: How He Tried to Explain Away Initial Allegations
Updated June 9 2022, 4:12 p.m. ET
Although Todd Chrisley denied allegations of tax evasion and bank fraud in a lengthy Instagram post in August 2019, the Chrisley Knows Best star and his wife Julie Chrisley were convicted on a number of counts in June 2022. Keep reading to learn more about what he said about the initial allegations.
Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of tax evasion in June 2022.
Reality stars Todd and Julie were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans, according to a news release from the Department of Justice, per CNN. Additionally, the couple and their accountant, Peter Tarantino, were found guilty of several tax crimes — including attempting to defraud the IRS. Julie was also found guilty of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
A sentencing date is set for Oct. 6, and they're facing up to 30 years in prison. In the meantime, the Chrisleys are on house arrest.
Todd Chrisley initially claimed the tax evasion and bank fraud allegations stemmed from an ex-employee.
In August 2019, Todd shared via an Instagram post, that an ex-employee was to blame for the tax evasion and bank fraud allegations surrounding him and Julie.
"It all started back in 2012, when we discovered that a trusted employee of ours had been stealing from us big time," Todd wrote. "I won't go into details, but it involved all kinds of really bad stuff like creating phony documents forging our signatures, and threatening other employees with violence if they said anything. We even discovered that he bugged our home."
Todd continued, "Needless to say, we fired the guy and took him to court — and that's when the real trouble started."
Todd said he and Julie were cleared of any wrongdoing.
According to Todd, the ex-employee "took a bunch of his phone documents to the U.S. attorney's office and told them we had committed all kinds of financial crimes, like tax evasion and bank fraud."
He wrote that "got [the authorities'] attention, all right, but once we had a chance to explain who [the ex-employee] was and what he'd done to us, [the U.S. Attorney's office] realized it was all a bunch of nonsense and they sent him on his way."
But the Chrisleys' former employee didn't give up.
Todd wrote that the ex-employee somehow "persuaded a different set of investigators at the U.S. Attorney's office not only to reopen the case but also to grant him immunity from prosecution for his own crimes and bring charges against us."
As a result of this, Todd wrote that he and Julie will likely be "named in a federal indictment charging us with tax evasions and probably a bunch of other financial crimes as well."
Todd insists he and Julie have "done nothing wrong."
Todd wrote that he was "telling you all this now because we have nothing to hide and have done nothing to be ashamed of."
"Not only do we know we've done nothing wrong, but we've got a ton of hard evidence and a bunch of corroborating witnesses that proves it," he added.
Todd's full statement can be found on his Instagram page @toddchrisley.
The Chrisleys plan to appeal.
"Obviously the Chrisleys are devastated and disappointed, but will be pursuing an appeal," Stephen Friedberg, an attorney for Julie Chrisley, said in a statement to CNN following the convictions in June 2022. "They are grateful for all of the love and support they have received from their Family, friends and fans. They remain strong in their faith and are deeply concerned for all of their children, as well as Todd's mother, Elizabeth Faye Chrisley. They are looking forward to continue the fight until justice is obtained and they are ultimately vindicated."
