‘Chrisley Knows Best’ stars charged with federal tax evasion

ATLANTA >> A federal grand jury in Atlanta on Tuesday indicted reality television stars Todd and Julie Chrisley on charges including tax evasion, alleging among other things that they tried to hide their income from “Chrisley Knows Best” from the IRS.

The 12-count indictment also accuses the pair of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud.

Allan Mayer, a representative for the Chrisleys, said in an email Tuesday afternoon that his clients’ lawyers hadn’t seen the indictment and couldn’t comment. Chrisley, in an online post released Monday, a day before the indictment was announced, denied any wrongdoing.

Accountant Peter Tarantino, 56, was charged in the indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States and aiding the filing of a false tax return. A woman who answered the phone at his office outside Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon said he was with a client and would have no comment.

“Chrisley Knows Best” follows the tight-knit, boisterous family living in the Nashville area. Much of the series emphasizes Todd Chrisley’s obsessive yet comedic efforts to keep tabs on three of his kids, two of whom are in their 20s, and his mother.

The series has aired on USA for seven seasons and recently premiered a spinoff called “Growing Up Chrisley,” featuring his kids Chase and Savannah, who move to Los Angeles. Todd Chrisley also briefly hosted a talk show, “According to Chrisley,” for the network. Todd, 51, and Julie Chrisley, 46, also have a podcast called “Chrisley Confessions.”

A representative for NBCUniversal, which owns USA, declined to comment.

The family moved to Tennessee a few years ago, but the criminal charges stem from when they lived in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, U.S.