FILE - Todd Chrisley, left, and his wife, Julie Chrisley, pose for photos at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. ATLANTA — Todd and Julie Chrisley, stars of the reality television show “,” were found guilty Tuesday in Atlanta on federal charges including bank fraud and tax evasion.
Prosecutors alleged that the Chrisleys submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans. They said Julie Chrisley also submitted a false credit report and fake bank statements when trying to rent a house in California. Peter Tarantino, an accountant hired by the couple, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and willfully filing false tax returns, the U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta said. He also remains free on bond.'Chrisley Knows Best' stars Chace Chrisley, from left, Savannah Chrisley, Todd Chrisley, and Julie Chrisley attend the NBC 2014 Summer TCA held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Monday, July 14, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they and a former business partner submitted false documents to banks in the Atlanta area to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent loans, prosecutors said. They spent lavishly on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel and used new fraudulent loans to pay old ones, they said. Todd Chrisley then filed for bankruptcy, walking away from more than $20 million in loans, prosecutors said.
They operated a loan-out company that collected their income from the show and other ventures and kept the corporate bank accounts in Julie Chrisley’s name to avoid collection of half a million dollars in back taxes that Todd Chrisley owed, prosecutors said. When the IRS asked for information on the bank accounts, they transferred ownership to Todd Chrisley’s mother to try to further hide his income from the tax authorities, according to authorities.