Todd And Julie Chrisley Plead ‘Not Guilty’ To Federal Tax Evasion Charges And More

Aug 15, 2019 by apost team

Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are facing serious charges on 12 counts that include federal tax evasion, bank fraud, and wire fraud. However, the stars have pointed the finger at a former disgruntled employee who they claim was forging documents, and bugging their home.

According to Entertainment Tonight, the couple plead ‘not guilty’ at their hearing on Wednesday. They were ordered to surrender their passports, and their travel is restricted with exceptions for their businesses and filming of their television show. Court documents show the couple did not pay income taxes from 2013 - 2016 and used fake documents to obtain bank loans.   

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The couple rose to fame on their television show “Chrisley Knows Best” on the USA network. Todd Chrisley is a big Realty mogul who is known to flaunt his wealth on the TV series. The realtor released a statement on his Instagram defending him and his wife. “It all started back in 2012 when we discovered that a trusted employee of ours had been stealing from us big time,” Chrisley 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. Needless to say we fired the guy and took him to court-- and that’s when the real trouble started.”

Chrisley went on to explain that the former employee tried to get the U.S. Attorney’s Office to file charges against the family but they dropped them after hearing about the employee’s history with the family. However, the employee was able to get another set of investigators to file charges against the Chrisleys.  “

Somehow he 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,” Chrisley said. 

“I’m 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,” Chrisley added. However, in a press conference a member of the U.S. Attorney’s office made it clear they are not backing down saying to ABC News:

“I want to make note here, just because you’re rich and you’re on a TV show does not mean the law is not going to come and get you.”

ABC News says if they are found guilty the couple face up to 30 years in prison. 

What do you think about the federal charges against the Chrisleys? Tell us below. Send this article to your friends or family who may have watched their show on TV.