Todd Chrisley Denies 'Tax Evasion and Bank Fraud' as He Claims Ex-Employee Stole from His Family
Todd Chrisley is denying that he and his wife Julie committed financial crimes as he prepares to be named in a soon-to-be-released federal indictment.
In a lengthy Instagram post on Monday, the Chrisley Knows Best star claimed that an ex-employee had stolen from his family, created “phony documents” and forged signatures years ago, which in part could lead to charges being brought against him and his wife this week.
“I’ve never talked about this publicly before, but there’s been a cloud hanging over Julie and me and our entire family for the past seven years. It all started back in 2012, when we discovered that a trusted employee of ours had been stealing from us big time,” Todd, 50, began the post.
While Todd said that he wouldn’t “go into details,” he claimed that the case “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 illegally bugged our home,” Todd alleged about the man, whom he did not identify. “Needless to say, we fired the guy and took him to court — and that’s when the real trouble started. To get revenge, he took a bunch of his phony 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. That got their attention all right, but once we had a chance to explain who he was and what he’d done to us, they realized it was all a bunch of nonsense and they sent him on his way.”
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Although Todd believed the case was over, he claims the former employee “persuaded a different set of” U.S. Attorney’s Office investigators to reopen the case.
“So far so good — except that our former employee didn’t give up. 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 and bring charges against us,” he alleged.
“As a result, it looks like later this week Julie and I are going to be named in a federal indictment charging us with tax evasion and probably a bunch of other financial crimes as well,” he said.
Thank you all for your love and support. Our family will forever be grateful ❤️ God bless you all!
A post shared by Todd Chrisley (@toddchrisley) on Aug 12, 2019 at 2:11pm PDT
Despite the allegations and charges that may be brought against Todd and his family, the family patriarch said “we know we’ve done nothing wrong.”
Continued Todd: “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.”
As he awaits the possible charges, Todd is leaning on his faith and trust in God to see him through this trying time.
“Anyway, when all is said and done, we trust in God and God says to us in Jeremiah 51:36, ‘I will defend you. I will be your lawyer. I will plead your case.’ We know that if and when this goes to court, the truth will prevail and the charges against us will be exposed for the outrageous lies they are,” said the reality star. “As it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ “
In conclusion, the USA Network personality thanked his fans for their support and prayers. “We want to express our gratitude to everyone who helped place us where we are today in our lives. We thank you for your support and we will continue to work every day to earn your respect, loyalty, and admiration. We covet your prayers, Todd, Julie & the entire Chrisley Clan.”
He captioned the post: “Thank you all for your love and support. Our family will forever be grateful ❤️ God bless you all!”
Shortly after Todd released the statement, Savannah Chrisley left an encouraging message of support in support of her father.
“Thank you for being YOU! You have and always will be the glue that holds us all together. God has a much bigger plan for all of us and this is just part of it,” she wrote.
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“Thank you for being the most loving, kind hearted, and honest father. You will forever be my bestfriend…now let’s let God do the work,” continued Savannah. “HE will never forsake us ❤️.”
Amid the drama, the father-daughter duo is finding joy in both working together and planning for a very important milestone: her upcoming wedding!
In June, Savannah, who is engaged to fiancé Nic Kerdiles, opened up to PEOPLE about her upcoming nuptials — and how Todd is very involved in the process.
“Nic isn’t really that involved,” Savannah, 22, told PEOPLE with a laugh about Kerdiles. “He’s just like, ‘I want red velvet cake. Other than that I just want you to be happy, so do what you want.’ I’m like, ‘Great, you’ve made this so much easier on me.’ “
“Wedding planning has been going great,” she added. “My dad has been doing a lot of it. We’re getting it done!”
In an interview with Access, the bride-to-be said that she and her dad “are in full force” for her special day.
“He’s a great wedding planner, so we’re excited. It’s more his day than it is my day,” she said of her wedding, which she’s eyeing to have in summer 2020 with 250-350 guests. “And that’s okay. I’ve always said he can plan my wedding and I can show up and it’d be exactly how I wanted it.”
