Todd and Julie Chrisley indicted for tax evasion, wire fraud

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Reality television personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley have been indicted for alleged tax evasion and wire fraud, court documents said.

NBC News said a federal grand jury in Atlanta issued Tuesday a 12-count indictment against the stars of Chrisley Knows Best.

WSB-TV Atlanta reported the couple and their certified public accountant, Peter Tarantino, have been accused of using the production company 7C to hide their income from the IRS.

"I want to make note here: Just because you're rich and on a TV show doesn't mean that the law is not going to come get you when you commit a federal crime," said BJay Pak, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

"They had a production company named 7C Production, which was paid the fees that the TV stations paid for the show. Of course, that was not declared as income in federal tax returns," Pak said.

In a lengthy Instagram post, the couple denied any wrongdoing and said the charges stem from the unethical practices of a former "trusted employee."

"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," the Chrisleys' statement said.