Fraudulent loans, millions hidden from the tax authorities, unpaid debts….Todd and Julie Chrisley, two stars of reality TV in the United States have hit rock bottom. They were found guilty of tax evasion and bank fraud, for several million dollars of damage. These two personalities found success in the United States thanks to the reality show Chrisley Knows Best. In hindsight we need to ask if they truly knew best.
Julie Chrisley: 8 Facts About Her Bank Fraud + Tax Evasion
1. A $36 million loan, the penalties are heavy:
A jury found the Chrisleys guilty of falsifying audits, bank statements and their personal finances to secure $36 million in loans. The couple later spent the money on “luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel – and used new fraudulent loans to pay off old ones,” the US attorney’s office press release said. The couple’s accountant, Peter Tarantino, 60, was also found guilty of tax offenses. Followed by three years of probation, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
2. It all began in June of this year:
After being found guilty of fraud and tax evasion in June 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were sentenced Monday, November 21, 2022 in Atlanta.
Bank Fraud:
The couple was convicted of falsifying documents to take out $30 million in fraudulent bank loans before they even gained notoriety in this program which follows the daily life of a wealthy family.
Also according to prosecutors, Chrisley’s “empire” was built on the backs of defrauded banks that collapsed while Todd Chrisley used the stolen money to travel to Los Angeles for haircuts every two weeks.
Debt wasn’t paid off:
Todd Chrisley, who had made a fortune in real estate, has also not repaid more than 20 million dollars in debt, after going bankrupt in 2012, relays Variety. With his wife, he also allegedly hid millions of dollars from the US tax authorities during the broadcast of the show.
After defrauding banks of tens of millions of dollars, they hid millions of dollars from the taxman, while appearing on TV to brag about how much they spend on designer clothes”, federal prosecutors wrote in their report.
3. Sentenced to 12 and 7 years in prison:
Stars of the American reality TV show “Chrisley Knows Best”, broadcast since 2014, Julie and Todd Chrisley were sentenced respectively to seven and twelve years in prison, on November 21, for fraud and tax evasion.
This Monday, November 21, Todd Chrisley, 54, was sentenced to twelve years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion, while his wife Julie, 49, was sentenced to seven years for her involvement.
The Chrisley Knows Best stars’ sentencing comes five months after a jury found the couple guilty of tax evasion.
4. The couple reportedly showed no remorse, which increased the penalties:
While the couple is expected to appeal the judge’s decision, there’s little chance it will change that. “The fact that they did not accept any responsibility, even after being sentenced, is one of the reasons why the judge hammered them repeatedly, and why they were given such heavy sentences. They took no action to mitigate what they had done.”
Reality TV stars known for their show “Chrisley Knows Best”, Todd and Julie Chrisley will probably serve a large part of these prison sentences, estimates a legal expert consulted by People, who indicates that in this area, discounts penalties for good behavior are relatively low in the United States.
5. Todd and Julie Chrisley head to jail in early 2023:
Indicted in 2019, Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of a series of charges in June, and have since been under house arrest at their Nashville estate, pending sentencing. After serving their prison terms, Both were also sentenced to three years of supervised release to be completed according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. According to the NY Times, the couple will be expected to serve their sentence beginning from early 2023.
6. What will happen to the kids?
Todd and Julie Chrisley are the parents of Chase, 26, and Savannah, 25 (Todd is also the father of Kyle, 31, and Lindsie, 33, from his previous marriage), but also Grayson, 16 and 10-year-old Chloe, who is now questioning custody while they serve their sentences.
Their sentencing comes a week after their 16-year-old son, Grayson, was involved in a serious car accident in Nashville. He reportedly suffered serious injuries, including a potential head injury, and was taken to hospital after the accident, according to TMZ.
Todd’s daughter, Lindsie, whom he shares with his ex Terry, is supportive of her father despite their previous public conflicts. They’ve all come together to show their support — the past few weeks, for sure, have brought them closer.
Lindsie is there for both of her parents despite her previous split with Todd because Lindsie wanted her son Jackson, 9, who she shares with ex Will Campbell, to have a relationship with his grandfather “no matter what”.
7. What will happen to the Chrisley show?
According to TMZ, NBC Universal has decided to cancel the Chrisley show. However, several new episodes were originally scheduled to be broadcast in 2023 so we don’t know what will happen to the show either.
In the meantime, the couple’s lawyer, Alex Little, told Vanity Fair that his clients were going to appeal their conviction. “Their trial was marred by repeated and SERIOUS errors, including the fact that the government lied to jurors about the couple’s taxes,” he said.
8. Todd Chrisley believes the crimes were not in his control:
The Chrisley family patriarch, who also shares daughter Lindsie, 33, and Kyle, 31, with ex-wife Therese Terry denied the allegations in a lengthy statement, alleging that his and Julie’s former employee Marc Braddockwas trying to get “revenge” on them.
“He took a bunch of his fake documents to the U.S. Attorney’s office and told them we did all kinds of financial crimes, like tax evasion and bank fraud,” Todd said in 2019.
“[He] persuaded another group of investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office to not only reopen the case, but to grant him immunity from prosecution for his own crimes and bring charges against us”, he added.
After the jury delivered its verdict, the couple’s attorney, Bruce Howard Morris said he was “disappointed” and noted that “an appeal is expected”.