Todd Chrisleyand his wife Julie are taking legal action against Joshua Waites, the director of the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Office of Special Investigations, for “specifically targeting” the famous family in their state tax evasion charge, of which theywere clearedlast week.
Waites did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“Our investigators are fair and impartial in their work with a commitment to ensuring compliance with the law,” William Gaston, press officer in the Office of the Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Revenue, said in a statement to PEOPLE. “In accordance with state law and as a matter of standard protocol, the Department cannot comment on the specifics of any investigation, settlement, or pending litigation. This development is disappointing and their accusations are unfounded, but we will decline to provide any further comment on this matter.”
Bowers accused Waites’ Office of Investigations of being given at least $2 million dollars for his “assistance” in forcing “settlements” in cases such as the Chrisleys’, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that several years ago, Waites “began to focus his efforts and desire” on the Chrisley family, particularly Todd, as well as his estranged daughter Lindsie.”
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The Chrisleys accuse Waites of targeting Lindise, 26, in an attempt to seek information about the family from her. When he was unable to get the information he wanted from her, Waites allegedly shared the Chrisley’s confidential tax information with Lindsie, according to the lawsuit.
“Ultimately Waites’s efforts failed, but in the process, the Chrisleys were forced to incur substantial personal and financial hardship,” Bowers said in the lawsuit.
“Julie and I knew all along that we had done nothing wrong and that when the facts all came out, we would be fine,” Todd said in a statement. “We’re just glad that the Department of Revenue was willing to keep an open mind and look at all the evidence.”
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The Chrisleys and the Department of Revenue officials signed a settlement agreement that ultimately led to the end of a two-year investigation into the Chrisleys’ alleged state tax liabilities.
In the settlement, the DOR dropped its claim that the couple owed more than $2.1 million in unpaid state taxes, penalties and interest and agreed that their total outstanding debt to the state totaled under $110,000. The sole year they owed the state any money was 2009, according to the DOR; that liability has been paid.
The Chrisleys still face charges for allegedly evading federal taxes in the same years.
The indictment was handed down in Atlanta-Georgia Northern District. The reality stars’ former accountant, Peter Tarantino, is facing the same charges.
Todd and Julie Chrisley.Tommy Garcia/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
“The allegations contained in the indictment are based on complete falsehoods. The Chrisleys are innocent of all charges,” the family’s attorneys said in a statement to PEOPLE in August.
In a previous statement to PEOPLE, Morris and Friedberg said, “For quite some time now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia has been conducting an investigation of Todd and Julie Chrisley based for the most part on the demonstrably false allegations of a former officer of a company they owned jointly. We saw the results of this effort yesterday — an indictment against Todd, Julie, and their accountant that relies largely if not entirely on emails that we know Todd never sent but rather were fabricated …”
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source: people.com
